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THE 



Virginia Dare Gatecnism 



BY 



REV. ALBAN GREAVES 



Presbyter of the Diocese of 
East Carolina 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Chap.. __. Copyright No. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



DAR 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM 



BY 

REV. ALBAN GREAVES 

PRESBYTER OF THE DIOCESE OF EAST CAROLINA 



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NEW YORK 

THE CHURCH PUBLISHING SOCIETY 

CHURCH MISSIONS HOUSE 




THE GUARANTEE PRESS 

NEW YORK 



TO THE RIGHT REVEREND 
ALFRED AUGUSTIN WATSON, D. D., 

FIRST BISHOP OF EAST CAROLINA, 

THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY AND 
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



COKTEHTS. 



PART I. 

Lesson. Page. 

I. Religion 9 

II. A Revelation . . . - 11 

III. God ....... 13 

IV. Man - 15 

V. Redemption (I) 17 

VI. Redemption (II) .... 19 

VII. The Fall and Restoration of God's 

Kingdom on the Earth ... 22 

VIII. The Church (I) 25 

IX. The Church (II) 27 

X. The Church (III) .... 29 

XI. The Church (IV) . . . . 31 
XII. Christianity . . ... 33 

XIII. Baptism 36 

XIV. Infant Baptism .... 38 

XV. The Supper of the Lord ... 41 

XVI. Confirmation 44 

XVII. The Holy Scriptures (I) 46 

XVIII. The Holy Scriptures (II) . . 48 

XIX. The Holy Scriptures (III) ... 50 

XX. The Christian Year (I) 53 

XXL The Christian Year (II) ... 55 

XXII. The Christian Year (III) ... 57 

XXIII. The Prayer Book (I) . . . . 59 

XXIV. The Prayer Book (II) ... 62 
XXV. Conscience 64 

XXVI. Divisions of the Catechism. The 

Christian Covenant ... 67 

XXVII. Divisions of the Catechism. The 

Christian Creed . . . .70 

XXyilL Divisions of the Catechism. The 

Decalogue 72 



Lesson. Page. 
XXIX. Divisions of the Catechism. Prayer 74 
XXX. Divisions of the Catechism. The 

Sacraments 77 

Story of an Old Soldier ... 79 

PART II. 

XXXI. Missions (I) 80 

XXXII. Missions (II) 82 

XXXIII. Giving . 85 

XXXIV. Worship 87 

XXXV. Family Worship and Sponsorship . 90 

XXXVI. Seeking First the Kingdom . . 92 

XXXVII. Confession, Profession, and Nonpro- 

fessorship 95 

XXXVIII. Belief and Unbelief ... 98 
XXXIX. Faith and Works . . . . 101 

XL. Conversion or Repentance . . 104 
XLI. Regeneration or Election . . . 106 
XLII. Charity an 1 Brotherhood . . 108 
XLIII. Purity and Honesty . . . .111 
XLIV. Reverence and Humility . \ 113 
XLV. Industry and Obedience . . .116 
XL VI. Forgiveness and Gratitude . . 118 
XLVII. The Holy Catholic Church . . .121 
XLVIII. The Reformation . .124 
XLIX. Apostolic vSuccession and the Breadth 

of the Church 126 

L. Anglo-Catholicism, Roman Catholi- 
cism and Denominationalism . 129 
LI. Why I am a Churchman . . .132 
LII. Treasure in Heaven and Servants of 

God ....... 134 

LIII. Eternal Life . . . . . 137 

LIV. Three Parables of our Lord . .140 



PREFACE. 

o 

These fifty-four Lessons, on a number of common 
and useful subjects, above all are designed to be 
practical ; and they aim to give the meaning of facts, 
as well as the facts themselves, so that Faith and 
Reason, like the Church and Holy Scripture, may go 
hand in hand. 

Should the book be used catechetically in Sunday- 
school classes, it will be found that most of the ques- 
tions suggest others implicitly contained in them — all 
of which may profitabty bp brought out by the teacher. 
Frequently the questions rather than the answers con- 
tain the matter to be taught. It is hoped these Les- 
sons may also prove useful in furnishing subject mat- 
ter for Bible-class teachers who have not access to 
suitable books for preparation. 

There is only one language of Heaven this wide 
earth over, though man's tongues are many. May 
that one language, Worship (alone celestial and en- 
during of them all) and the truths of Revelation, ex- 
perience and history contained in this little manual, be 
impressed upon the young throughout this land ! 

A. G 



PART L 



LESSON I.— RELIGION. 

Exercise. Find in the Prayer Book the opening sen- 
tences for Morning and for Evening Prayer, the 
Psalter for the day, and the General Thanksgiving. 

1. What is Religion? A personal relation- 
ship between God and man. 

2. Give a definition of religion? ''Religion 
is the tie that binds man to God, his best 
Friend." 

3. How is Religion always described in the 
Old and New Testaments? As a Covenant be- 
tween two persons. 

4. Can we speak of Almighty God as a 
Person? Yes, an unseen Person. 

5. Is Religion Feeling alone? No. 

6. Is it Morality alone? No. 

7. Is it Knowledge alone? It is not, though 
all these are parts of it. 

8. Have not all nations some form of Relig- 
ion? Yes, all believe in and worship something 
greater than themselves. 

9. What is Morality? A pure and upright life, 
without any. thought of pleasing God. 

10. Our bodies require food ; our minds re- 



10 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



quire food, (thinking, reading, observation and 
conversation), — what would you say of our 
souls? They require their food also. 

11. How is the soul of man nourished? By 
communion with God, his unseen Friend and 
Father; by worship, prayer and love. In one 
word, by Religion. 

12. Why do you suppose we more easily 
neglect the soul than the other parts or sides of 
our nature? Because it is the highest part of 
our being. 

13. What is the principle that underlies this 
neglect? All transition from the lower to the 
higher is attended with effort or pain. 

14. Left to themselves do not all good 
things here tend to degenerate? Yes. 

15. For what purpose has God appointed the 
sanctions of Religion? To aid and support Mor- 
ality, that man may grow. 

16. Why would God have us grow? To fit 
us for a still higher existence, in other worlds to 
come. 



A REVELATION. 



II 



LESSON II.— A REVELATION. 

Exercise. Find The Exhortation, the longer Declar- 
ation of Absolution for Morning and Evening Prayer, 
and the Collect for the day. 

1. By what is our natural knowledge bound- 
ed? By the world we live in, and by the five 
senses of man. 

2. If anything of importance existed beyond 
these boundaries, would not God have informed 
us of it? Yes. 

3. He has done so — what is this called? A 
Revelation. 

4. What then is a Revelation? Something (a 
body of facts) which our own observation and 
experience would not have told us of. 

5. What is the great message of Revelation? 
That there is a God. 

6. Does not Natural Religion point the 
same way by saying that the wonderful order 
of Nature we see around us must have had a 
Designer? It does. 

7. What then would you observe respecting 
the order of the Universe about us? It could 
not have originated itself, but must have been 
started by an outside, intelligent Force. 

8. In addition, what does Revelation teach us 
about God? That we are made in His image; 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



that He cares for us, loves us, desires our high- 
est happiness, and would shield us from dan- 
ger. 

9. What is meant by Revealed Religion? 
That body of truth revealed or told us by Al- 
mighty God. 

10. Give an example? That there is a future 
state for man. 

11. Another? That morality, charity and 
unselfishness are the will of God for mankind. 

1 2. To what may a Revelation be compared? 
To a voice speaking to us from beyond the 
grave. 

13. How did the Revelation come to the 
men of the Old Testament? Through proph- 
ets, visions, and other ways . 

14. How besides? By the writings of Mo- 
ses and the prophets. 

15. How, above all, has God revealed Him- 
self and His will? By the visit of His Son to 
this earth nineteen centuries ago. 

16. What text can you quote from the Par- 
ables of our Lord? "Last of all He sent unto 
them His Son." [St. Mat. xxi: 37]. 

17. How does God speak by Revelation to us 
to-day? By the preservation of the Holy Script- 
ures, and of the Church. 

18. Why can none of us know without the 



GOD. 



Bible what possibilities exist for us beyond the 
grave? Because no one has returned to tell. 

19. How then did we learn? The Eternal 
One Who lives there has revealed it. 

20. When God speaks what must man do? 
Listen. 

LESSON III.— GOD. 

Exercise, Find references to the three Persons of the 
Trinity in the Te Deum. Find the Gloria, the Lord's 
Prayer, the Grace, the Proper Preface for Trinity- 
Sunday, and the Invocation in the Litany. 

1. Who is God? The Creator and Preserver 
of all mankind. 

2. What attributes of God pervade the rec- 
ord of Holy Scripture? His Justice and His 
Mercy. 

3. What is He frequently called in Script- 
ure? Our Father. 

4. How does David compare Him to a fath- 
er? "Like as a father pitieth his own children, 
even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear 
him." [Ps. ciii:i2]. 

5. What does this word imply? It implies 
love and attention to our needs. 

6. How is God a Father to all mankind? By 
creation. 

7. How is He especially a Father to some? 



14 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



Some have by Baptism taken upon them the 
closer relation of adoption. 

8. Quote other words concerning Him ? 
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 
[Gen. xviii:2 5]. "Our God is a consuming 
fire." [Heb. xii:29]. 

9. What two things assure us that there is 
a God? (1) The beautiful world of Nature, 
and (2) Holy Scripture. 

10. Repeat what the Catechism says on the 
offices of the Holy Trinity. "First, I learn to 
believe in God the Father, Who hath made me 
and all the world ; secondly, in God the Son, 
Who hath redeemed me and all mankind ; third- 
ly, in God the Holy Ghost, Who sanctifieth me 
and all the people of God. ' 1 

11. After redeeming us from Satan, under 
whose power we had fallen, in the Garden of 
Eden, what did the Lord Jesus do? He found- 
ed His Church, which was to proclaim the fact 
of redemption. 

1 2. Give the meaning of the word ' 'sanctify?" 
To make holy. 

13. What is the Holy Spirit called by our 
Saviour? The Comforter. 

14. What is the old meaning of the word 
"Comforter?" Helper or Strengthener. 

1 5. Under Whose especial protection is the 



MAN. 



15 



Church to-day? Under the protection of the 
Holy Spirit. 

16. Where do we find a beautiful prayer ad- 
dressed to God the Holy Ghost? In the Insti- 
tution Office, in the Book of Common Prayer. 

17. What may be said of the messages of 
God? They are true and hold good for us, 
whether we hear or whether we will forbear. 

18. Quote the words of St. Paul in regard to 
unbelief? "If we believe not, yet He abideth 
faithful; He cannot deny Himself." [II Tim. 
11:13]-. 



LESSON IV.— MAN. 

Exercise. Find the Venite ; the Collects for Christ- 
mas Day and the VI. Sunday after Epiphany; the Col- 
lect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day. 

1. How does the Bible speak of man?- As 
the last and highest work of God, 

2. In Whose image was man made? In the 
image of God. 

3. Does he wear that image still? Yes. 

4. But how has it been defaced or marred? 
By sin. 

5. What is the soul of man? That part of 
his nature in virtue of which he can approach 
God. 



T6 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

6. What definition has been given of the soul? 
"A spark from the great central fire of the 
Universe; a drop from the Ocean of Life, im- 
mortal as its source. " 

7. Of what does man's nature consist besides 
the soul? Of mind and body likewise. 

8. What would you say of the body? It is 
this that allies us with the animal creation. 

9. How has man's nature been described? 
As part angel and part devil. 

10. Which of these two parts should we try 
to cultivate? The higher part. 

11. Why, very possibly, was man created? 
To take the places of the fallen angels in 
Heaven. 

12. What must happen to a man before that? 
He musf first pass through a probation here. 

13. What do you mean by this? Something 
to test his service to God — to try if he be fit for 
God's service Above. [Compare Deut. viii:2]. 

14. What is man's duty towards his Creator? 
To believe in Him, to fear Him and to love 
Him. 

15. What else? To worship Him, to give 
Him thanks. 

16. What more? To put his whole trust in 
Him, to call upon Him (in prayer). 

17. Further? To honour His Holy Name and 



REDEMPTION (i). 



His word; and to serve Him truly all the days 
of his life. 

1 8. What did our Lord teach as our duty 
towards our fellow man? "Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." 

19. Will you try to think of these things? I 
will, by God's help. 



LESSON V.— REDEMPTION (I). 

Exercise. Find the Nicene Creed. First Collect for 
Good Friday; Collects for Sunday next before Easter, 
and 2nd Sunday after Easter. 

1. What is the meaning of the word Redemp- 
tion? Buying back. 

2. From whom was man to be redeemed? 
From Satan. 

3. What does St. Paul say? That we are the 
servants (or slaves) of the one whom we obey. 
[Rom. vi: 15 J. 

4. After that man by obeying Satan had be- 
come his servant, what was the promise of Re- 
demption made co Adam and Eve? That the 
seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's 
head. [Gen. iii: 15]. 

5. Who was meant by the Seed of the 
woman? Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

6. In the fulness of time what came to pass? 



1 3 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

The Incarnation of God's only-begotten Son — ■ 
i. e. , His taking our human flesh and nature. 

7. How does the Nicene Creed speak of the 
Incarnation of our Lord? "Who for us men 
and for our salvation came down from Heaven, 
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the 
Virgin Mary, and was made man." 

8. What else was done by our Lord for man, 
besides His becoming incarnate? In Palestine 
he lived our life for thirty-three years. 

9. What were some of the truths left by 
Christ to the world? That the bad man's pros- 
perity is not really prosperity; and that the 
good man's tribulation is not tribulation to him. 

10. Of what was His life a revelation? A 
revelation of the character of God. [St. John 
xiv. : 9]. 

11. What else in His love and goodness did 
He do for us? He was crucified also for us 
under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was 
buried. 

12. Having thus redeemed us from Satan, 
how did the Lord Jesus sum it all up — in what 
form did He cast the results? In His Church. 

13. Did Almighty God intend that man 
should fall? No. 

14. Is it true that God had made a creature 
beyond His own control? No. 



REDEMPTION (il). 



19 



15. How then did Adam come to fall? 
Along with other blessings, free will had been 
given to man — which he abused. 

16. Without freedom, what would man's ser- 
vice be worth? Nothing. He would be a ma- 
chine, incapable of good or evil ; irresponsible 
as a venomous beast or reptile. To do good, 
there must be also the possibility of doing evil. 

17. Why did Satan attack man, and tempt 
him to disobey? Being God's enemy, Satan 
desired to ruin His last and greatest work. 

18. How does he show that deadly hatred of 
God still? By trying to destroy our race, and 
make it fail once more. 

19. To what end? That God may cast us off 
forever. 

20. Does not the best solution of difficulties 
lie in obedience? It does. 



LESSON VI.— REDEMPTION (II). 

Exercise. Find the Easter Anthem and state where 
used. Find Collect for Easter Day, Proper Preface for 
Easter and for Christmas ; and the General Thanks- 
giving. 

1. What did Redemption do for our race ? 
It gave us a fresh start; high possibilities once 
more. 



20 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



2. Is Redemption salvation? No, only a 
part of it. 

3. Whom did the Lord Christ redeem? All 
mankind. 

4. Up to the time of Christ's visit to this 
world, who had stood for the head of the human 
race — the representative man? Adam. 

5. After the Saviour's coming who became 
that head? Jesus Christ. 

6. What was this like? It was as if the 
whole human race was born over again. 

7. How does St. Paul express this? " As in 
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive. " 

8. Again? " Since by man came death, by 
man came also the resurrection of the dead." 

9. What moved our Blessed Lord to redeem 
us thus? Love and pity. 

10. Does God love sinners? Yes, He loves all. 

11. What then prevents the sinner's salva- 
tion? His sin. 

12. What was it that really caused all the 
sufferings of Christ? Sin. 

13. Must not sin unchecked be a terrible 
thing? The most terrible thing in all the Uni- 
verse. 

14. Why? Because opposed to the plain coin- f 
mand of the world's Creator. J 

11 



REDEMPTION (il). 



21 



15. Why is it not only terrible but also un- 
wise and foolish to sin? Because sin must be 
punished, here or hereafter. 

16. Quote the Scripture. " The wages of sin 
is death." [Rom. vi: 23.] 

17. Again? "Be not deceived — God is not 
mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap. " [Gal. vi: 7. J 

18. How should men regard sin? They 
should hate it and fear it all their lives. 

19. In what words were the sufferings of 
Christ in the Atonement foretold? " Thou (the 
serpent) shalt bruise His heel" (Christ's human 
nature). [Gen. iii: 15.] 

20. How did Isaiah prophesy of the Atone- 
ment? " The Lord hath laid upon Him the in- 
iquity of us all." [liii: 6.] 

21. Look at all the evil sin has worked. Try 
to hate and avoid it. Pray for help to see it in 
its true colors. Use the prayer after Decalogue, 
in the Ante-Communion Service. 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM 



LESSON VII.— THE FALL. AND RESTORATION 
OF GOD'S KINGDOM ON THE EARTH. 

Exereise. Find the Litany; Psalter, Collect, Epistle, 
and Gospel for the day. 

1. When did God's Kingdom begin on earth? 
In the Garden of Eden, when God met man, 
and told him of his duty of faith and obedience, 
and of the penalty that would follow unbelief 
and disobedience. 

2. What is another name for the Church? 
God's Kingdom on earth. 

3. What everyday comparison might be 
made? That of a " branch house,'* from some 
large and distant firm. 

4. What terrible accident bef el this first plant- 
ing of God's Kingdom here? It was wrecked 
through man's disobedience and frailty. 

5. By whose instrumentality was it wrecked? 
Through that of Satan, the enemy of God. 

6. How does St. Paul describe this fall? " By 
one man's offence Death reigned." [Rom. v: 

7. Again? " By the offence of one, judg- 
ment came upon all men to condemnation." 
[Rom. y: 18.] 

8. What illustration of obedience to God's 
will had man before his eyes then, and the 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION, ETC. 1$ 

same to-day? All the rest of the Creation ex- 
cept himself (the plants, the animals, the Ocean 
and the Heavenly bodies) were punctually 
obeying the orders given them. 

9. What results of the Fall upon mankind can 
we all observe? (i) Physical death. (2) A sin- 
ful nature ; so that ever since it has been easier 
to do wrong than right. 

10. What was the moral result in the sight 
of God? A tremendous penalty must bj paid 
by man, or else some wonderful Power and 
Love must interpose. 

11. Do you mean in order to appease God? 
No, but to counteract the the destroying prop- 
erties of sin. 

12. How do the offences of others against 
ourselves compare with our offence against 
God? The former are like a hundred pence, 
while the latter is like ten thousand talents. 
[St. Matt, xviii: 23, etc.] 

13. What transpired next? By a Divine in- 
terposition on the scene of human history the 
Son of God undertook to redeem the world. 

14. What was this called? The Atone- 
ment, or making at one of God and man once 
more. 

15. Quote from the Te Deuml " When Thou 
hadst overcome the sharpness of Death, Thou 



24 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM, 



didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all be- 
lievers. " 

1 6. How is our Lord addressed in the Litany' 
11 O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of 
the world. " 

17. Quote the language of St. Paul? " When 
we were yet without strength, in due time 
Christ died for the ungodly." [Rom. v: 6. J 

1 8. To what then was this equivalent? To 
setting up on earth the Kingdom of Heaven for 
the second time. 

19. After man had been thus restored to that 
higher plane, grand possibilities once more 
within his reach, what did the Lord Jesus do? 
He set before us the ways of life and death 
once more. 

20. And against what did He provide? He 
gave us clear directions how not to come under 
that evil power again. 

21. What may be said after Christ's merciful 
interposition on this far off, little rebellious 
planet? The human race may attain its destiny, 
after all. 



THE CHURCH (i). 



25 



LESSON VIII.— THE CHURCH (I). 

Exercise. Find the two Creeds; the Benedicite, the 
Benedictus. and the Be7iedic, anima mea. 

1 . When did the Church as a distinct Coven- 
ant body begin? In the days of Abraham. 

2. How would you describe the Covenant or 
agreement found in the Church of God? It is a 
Covenant between the weak and the Strong. 

3. Was the Church to progress in holiness 
and in the understanding of God's Truth, — or 
was all revealed at once? The standard of 
morality was raised as time went on. 

4. What instance of progress in intelligence 
can you name? The vision of the Future grew 
clearer with time. 

5/ What can we say generally of God's 
Kingdom? Part of it is Above, and part of it 
here below. 

6. How do these two parts stand towards 
each other? The one is a branch or colony of 
the other, 

7. Illustrate this. A colony of citizens is 
sent out from a mother country, to be planted 
and grow in some foreign land. 

8. Is the Colony governed by the same main 
laws as the mother country? By the same 
Laws and the same King. 



26 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



9. What is the mother country of Christ- 
ianity? Heaven. 

10. What is the foreign land? This world. 

11. Who is the King of both alike? Al- 
mighty God. 

12. How are these two parts of God's King- 
dom sometimes described? As the Church 
Militant and the Church Triumphant. 

13. What does militant mean? Fighting or 
struggling on earth. 

14. How does St. Paul speak of God? As 
the Father of Whom the whole family in Heaven 
and earth is named. [Eph. iii: 15.] 

15. How does he address the Ephesian 
Christians? As fellow citizens with the saints 
and of the Household of God. [Eph. ii: 19.] 

16. To what else may God's Kingdom on 
earth be compared? To a foreign plant, grow- 
ing far away from its native soil. 

17. Give an illustration. The peach tree, a 
native of Persia, grows in America. 

18. Sum up what has thus far been said of 
the Church. It is a foreign importation, here 
to elevate, train and protect mankind. 

19. What did this world become (morally, 
not physically) on the Fall of man? The 
Devil's country. 

20. What injunction did St. Paul lay upon 



THE CHURCH (ll). 



27 



his converts? "Be not conformed to this 
world. " [Rom. xii: 2.] 

LESSON IX.— THE CHURCH (II). 

Exercise. Find the Te Deum, and state what it says 
of the Church. Find the Prayer for the Church Mili- 
tant, the Prayer for rain, and for a sick person. 

1. If you accept Christ as your defence and 
salvation, what must you also accept? His 
Government and Kingdom. 

2. Illustrate this from earthly affairs. If an 
alien or foreigner desires to receive the protec- 
tion of the United States, he must first become 
a citizen and subscribe to its laws. 

3. For what did our Lord organize the 
Christian Church? To declare to all nations the 
benefits of Redemption, and to gather them into 
His fold. 

4. What is our future life Hereafter to be 
like personally? We may suppose it to be a 
continuance of the present life, so far as our 
characters and aspirations go. 

5. How did otir vSaviour speak of His Church 
on earth? As a field in which wheat and tares 
should grow together. [St, Matt, xiii: 24J. 

6. Until when should good and evil in the 
Church thus be mingled and flourish together? 
Until the Harvest, or end of the world. 



28 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM, 



7. Is it possible for man to cancel your 
membership in God's Church? No. 

8. Can Baptism ever be recalled? No. 

9. Why cannot a citizen of God's Republic 
or Kingdom be disfranchised by his fellow citi- 
zens? Because the Republic does not belong 
to them. 

10. To what else did our Lord liken " the 
Kingdom, of Heaven "? To a Net, which should 
gather both bad and good. 

11. Where will these be sorted or divided? 
On the Shore. [St. Matt, xiii: 58]. 

12. When w T ill the Church or Net be brought 
to land? At the end of the world. 

13. Is the Church spoken of in the New Tes- 
tament as a visible or an invisible body? As a 
visible body. 

14. What expression does St. Paul apply to 
it? He calls it the Pillar and Ground of the 
Truth. [X Tim. iii: 15]. 

15. What is the door? Holy Baptism. 

16. To what may the Church be compared? 
To Noah's Ark. 

1 7 . What sin was it that caused the fate of those 
who were drowned in the Flood? Unbelief. 

18. What is it mainly that God asks of us — 
our feelings or our wills? Our wills. 

19. In other words? Obedience. 



The CHukcH (in). 



2y 



LESSON X.— THE CHURCH (III). 

Exercise. Find the Prayer for bll sorts ajid condi- 
tions of men (twice) ; the Prayer for clergy and people 
(twice); the Thanksgiving for Rain, and for Recovery 
from Sickness. 

1. What does the Prayer Book, in the Com- 
munion Service, term the Church? 4 4 The 
blessed company of all faithful people." 

2. Plow does the Apostles' Creed name the 
Church? " I believe in the Holy Catholic 
Church. " 

3. How must we find the meaning of the 
word Catholic? By taking the word at the 
time it was first used. 

4. What was its meaning then? Universal 
or General. 

5. What words follow, in the Apostles' 
Creed? "The Communion <~f saints." 

6. How does the Nicene Creed describe the 
Church? As One, Catholic and Apostolic. 

7. What does the Collect for the 22nd Sunday 
after Trinity call the Church? God's Household. 

8. What is the difference between a Church 
and a denomination? A Church dates from the 
lives of Apostolic men ; a denomination origin- 
ates with some uninspired leader. 

9. State another difference between the two. 
A Church is founded upon the great, primary 



3 o 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



facts of the Gospel ; a denomination stands on 
some one point or doctrine of the Gospel, often 
a minor point. 

10. What must be said of all denominations? 
Earnest and Christian as their membership of- 
ten is, their systems are one-sided and narrow 
in their presentation of Christ's Gospel, and 
adapted only to certain minds. 

11. Does the Episcopal Church teach all the 
points emphasized by the various denomina- 
tions? It does. 

12. What assists the Episcopal Church in ob- 
serving due proportion in Doctrine, so as not to 
dwell on any one truth to the dwarfing or ex- 
clusion of another? The Christian Year. 

13. Is not the Christian Year the common 
possession of all Christians alike who accept 
the earthly life of Jesus Christ, nineteen hun- 
dred years ago? It is. 

14. Are not the members of denomina- 
tions members of the Holy Catholic Church? 
As baptized persons they are; but their sys- 
tems are not parts of that Body. 

15. Why as bodies or organizations are the 
different sects not parts of the Catholic 
Church? Christ is not divided; and His 
Church is one. [Nicene Creed]. 

16. What result seems to be attached by our 



THE CHURCH (IV). 



31 



Lord to unity among His followers? That the 
world will believe that He is Divine. [St. 
John xvii: 21]. 

17. What therefore may we regard as the 
most fruitful cause of unbelief in the world 
to-day? Christians' divisions. 

18. Must we not always distinguish between 
men and their systems? Yes, we must treat all 
Christians as brethren, though regarding their 
denominations as displeasing to Christ. 

19. Quote a motto of the Catholic Church, 
translated from the Latin. " In necessary 
things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in 
all things, charity." 



LESSON XL— THE CHURCH (IV). 

Exercise. Find the Collects for the following Sun- 
days after Trintity— 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23d. Also the 
Ante-Communion Service. 

t. Logically and historically what is the cor- 
rect name of the Protestant Episcopal Church? 
The Anglo-Catholic Church. 

2. What is the position of that body? She 
is a reformed Catholic Church. 

3. What common mistake do we often hear? 
The Roman or Italian Communion alone called 
Catholic. 



32 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



4. To whom does the title Catholic belong? 

To all the Historic Churches. 

5. Can you name the oldest Church in the 
world? The Church in Jerusalem. 

6. What other Churches date from the first 
century? The Church in Britain, in Rome, 
Africa, and the Eastern Churches. 

7. What was done by the Bishop of Rome in 
the year 596? He sent missionaries to Britain., 
under Augustine, to plant Christianity there. 

8. What did Augustine find in Britain? He 
found the Church already there, under seven 
Bishops, having been for several hundred 
years in the island. 

9. What proof can you give that the British 
or Anglo-Catholic Chureh was not founded 
from Rome? The first British martyr, St. 
Alban, had witnessed for the Faith, having 
been burnt as a Christian, in the year 303. 

10. Give another proof. Three British 
Bishops were present at the Council of Aries 
in France, in the year 314. 

11. When were the first Christian services in 
North America held, and the Book of Common 
Prayer first opened on these shores? In 1579. 
The occasion was one of Sir Francis Drake's 
expeditions round the world; the priest was his 
chaplain, Francis Fletcher. 



CHRISTIANITY. 



33 



12. Give the name of the vessel. The 
Golden Hind. 

13. What monument marks the spot and the 
event on the California Coast? " The Prayer 
Book Cross." 

14. When was the next occasion when the 
Prayer Book was used in the borders of the 
United States? At Roanoke Island, N. C, in 
the year 1585, when Virginia Dare and the In- 
dian chief, Mantes, were baptized. 

15. In what Diocese does this historic spot 
now stand? In the Diocese of East Carolina. 

16. When did the Puritan Pilgrims of the 
Mayflower land in Massachusetts? In 1620. 



LESSON XII.— CHRISTIANITY. 

Exercise. Find the Collects for SS. Simon and Jude, 
All Saints, and 1st Sunday in Advent. Give the dates 
of the following Saints' or Holy Days: The Transfigura- 
tion, St. Stephen's, St. John Baptist's, and the Epiph- 
any. 

1. What is Christianity? God's ancient 
Church, with her borders enlarged to embrace 
all nations. 

2. To what nation alone had God's Truth 
been specially revealed thus far? To the He- 
brew race. 

3. Did Christ come to destroy the Law and 



54 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



the Prophets? No, but to fulfil, i. e., enlarge, 
extend their teachings. 

4. What are the Laws of Christianity? The 
Ten Commandments, interpreted and enlarged 
by Christ's Sermon on the Mount. 

5. What Laws are these in reality' The 
Laws of Heaven (God's Kingdom Above) 
brought down to earth. 

6. Give an instance of the expansion of the 
Decalogue by Christ, from the letter to the 
spirit. He taught that, if we wish to please 
Him, we must not only refrain from murder 
but from hatred ; not only from adultery but 
from evil thoughts. 

7. Is Christianity, then, a human institution 
seeking the Kingdom of Heaven: 5 Xo, it is the 
Kingdom of Heaven seeking men on earth. 

8. When do we become Christians' At Bap- 
tism. 

9. How does the Catechism describe the 
privileges of a Christian? He is a member of 
Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the 
Kingdom of Heaven. 

10. What does it state to be Christian duties? 
To renounce the Devil and all his works, the 
pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all 
the sinful lusts of the flesh. 

11. What is the Christian to accept for Be- 



CHRISTIANITY. 



35 



lief (faith)? All the Articles of the Apostles' 
Creed. 

12. What are to constitute his rules for 
Action? To keep God's holy will and Com- 
mandments, and walk in the same all the days 
of his life. 

13. Why will our service to God hereafter be 
more easy, successful and perfect than it is 
here? Satan will have been banished, and all 
temptations to oppose God's will have fled. 

14. What is meant by the term "non-pro- 
fessors " ? Those who hold themselves excused 
from membership in the Church of God. 

15. Does the Word of God absolve any from 
using this great talent, the knowledge of 
Christianity? It does not. 

16. Are the Laws of God more binding on 
some persons than others? Where there is 
knowledge of them, His Laws will judge all at 
the Last Day. 

17. Will it excuse a man at the Day of 
Christ to say that he was not a professor of 
Christianity — in other words, that he never un- 
dertook to observe Christianity? It will not. 
[See Lesson XXXVII]. 

18. At the same time, while it is the duty of 
all to acknowledge their Creator by entering his 
service, is it not taught that a higher standard 



36 



VIRGINIA DARF1 CATECHISM. 



will be demanded of some than of others, ac- 
cording to the natural endowment or disposition 
He has given us? Yes. 



LESSON XIII.— BAPTISM. 

Exercise. Find the Office for Adult Baptism and 
the Exhortation therein ("Beloved, ye hear"). Find the 
Catechism, and the Confirmation Service. 

1. What rite stands at the door of the Christ- 
ian's Covenant with God? Baptism, in the Name 
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy- 
Ghost. 

2. Quote the last command of Christ uttered 
on earth? "Go, make disciples of all nations, 
baptizing them. " [St. Matt, xxviiinoj. 

3. Quote the words of our Lord to Nicode- 
mus? 1 1 Except a man be born of water and 
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom 
of Heaven." [St. John 111:5]. 

4. What is the meaning of these latter words? 
The Kingdom or Church on earth. 

5. Why is it thought that this text refers to 
Baptism? Because we know that water is always 
used in Baptism ; while St. Paul and St. Peter 
teach that the Holy Spirit is present in Baptism. 
[I. Cor. xii:i3; Acts ii 138]. 

6. How can you illustrate this being born 



BAPTISM. 



37 



again (or from Above) known as Regeneration? 
It is as if one should confer upon a stone the 
life of a plant, that it might begin to grow. 

7. What benefits are spoken of in the Bible in 
connection with Baptism? The New Birth, For- 
giveness of sin, and salvation. 

8. What would you say of God's exceptions, 
whereby He may see fit to take men to Heaven 
without any instruments of grace? God may 
make as many exceptions as He pleases. He 
did not give us His exceptions to go by, but 
His rules. These are plain. 

9. Quote some verses of Scripture on this 
Sacrament? "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved. " [St. Markxvi:i6]. 

10 Again? "Arise and be baptized and wash 
away thy sins. " [Acts xxii :i6J. 

11. What do the Scriptures teach on the mode 
or manner of Baptism? Nothing exclusive of 
one mode or another. 

12. If the mode had been of importance, may 
we not believe that the Saviour would have 
stated it clearly? Yes. 

13. What is the position of the Prayer Book 
on this question? Both modes are provided for 
in the Baptismal services of the Prayer Book. 

14. What may be said of the word Baptism? 
It is a generic word like travel A person trav- 



38 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



els when he goes by train or by carriage ; when 
he sails or when he walks. 

15. In what ways then can this Sacrament 
be administered? By total immersion, by pour- 
ing or by sprinkling. 

16. There is an analogy between the Natural 
and the Spiritual worlds: what comparison 
can you make to meet the case of baptized per- 
sons living unworthily? All the children of a 
family may not be good ones, yet children they 
are nevertheless. All the limbs of a fruit tree 
may not bear fruit. Still they are all parts of the 
tree. 

17. To what do unworthy members of the 
Church correspond? To the barren limbs of a 
tree. 

1 8. When will the great Roll-call of all the bap- 
tized be held, that they may be judged accor- 
ding to their works? At the Last Day. 



LESSON XIV. INFANT BAPTISM. 

Exercise. Find Office for Public and Private Bap- 
tism of Infants. Find the Chants used after I. and II. 
Lessons at Morning Service. 

1. Is the God of the New Testament the same 
as the God of the Old Testament? Yes. 

2. Were children members of God's Church 



INFANT BAPTISM. 



39 



tinder the Old Testament? Yes, by God's ex- 
press command. 

3. Of what nation was our Saviour? The 
Hebrew. 

4. Of what nation were His disciples? The 
Hebrew. 

5. Of what Religion were the hearers of 
Christ, and those to whom the Apostles spoke 
on the day of Pentecost — including the first 
3,000 converts to Christianity? The Hebrew or 
Jewish Religion. 

6. Did our Lord when speaking of Baptism 
declare that children were to be exempted from 
the operation of His remarks? He did not. 

7. What conclusion would you draw from 
this? That they w r ere to continue to become 
members of the Covenant as hitherto. 

8. If Christ had washed to exclude children 
from membership, would it not have been need- 
ful for Him clearly to state the fact? Most cer- 
tainly. But He did nothing of the kind. 

9. On the contrary, what did He say? "Suf- 
fer little children to come unto Me, and forbid 
them not." [St. Mark x: 14]. 

10. Did not St. Peter tell the people on the 
Day of Pentecost, when the Christian Church 
began, that their children were to go along with 
them and get all the benefits of God's promises? 



4^ 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



Yes. "The promise is to you and to your child- 
ren." [Acts ii: 38, 39]. 

11. Why, when the New Testament came to 
be written, did not the Church deem it need- 
ful to insert a plain command, Baptize children? 
Because, as we believe, it had already been the 
custom in the Christian Church for many years 
to baptize them. 

12. What would such a command have been 
like? It would have been like commanding 
civilized nations to wear clothing. 

13. What, however, is incidentally referred to 
in the New Testament, along with other events? 
The baptism of three households. [Acts xvi: 
15 and 33 ; I. Cor. i: 16]. 

14. Who stood sponsor for Lydia's household 
when it was baptized? Lydia herself. 

15. How do we gather this? We are told of 
her faith and of her conversion, but nothing of 
that of her household. 

16. Of what other case can the like be said? 
Of the jailer's household. 

17. What did our Lord mean, as we suppose, 
when He said, "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved?" [St. Mark xvi: 16]. He 
was speaking of adults. 

18. W 7 hat of them? Adults must believe be- 
fore being baptized. 



THE SUPPER OF THE LORD. 



41 



19. How do we know that this text does not 
apply to children? By reading the remainder 
of the verse. 

20. If this text applied to children, what 
would it teach? That all children, baptized or 
unbaptized, are to be excluded from Heaven, 
which we know to be untrue. 

21. What words did our Lord use, showing it 
to be untrue? "Of such is the Kingdom of 
God," meaning children and those like them. 
[St. Mark x: 14]. 

22. What proportion of the Christian world 
practices Infant Baptism? Ninety-seven per 
cent. 

23. What does this demand from the minori- 
ty, considering too Christ's command to disci- 
ple all nations? [St. Matt, xxviii: 19]. A 
strong Scriptural prohibition. 



LESSON XV.— THE SUPPER OF THE LORD. 

Exercise. Find the Longer Exhortation in the Com- 
munion Service ("Dearly beloved in the Lord"), and the 
Collect, Epistle and Gospel for the week. 

1. What is the other Sacrament of Christ's 
Kingdom besides Baptism? The Supper of the 
Lord, otherwise called the Holy Communion 
[I. Cor. x: 16], and the Holy Eucharist (giving 
of thanks). 



42 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



2. What is the leading idea in the Holy 
Communion? That of union between Christ 
and His people. 

3. Where in the Prayer Book is this thought 
referred to? In several passages in the Com- 
munion Service. 

4. What did our Lord declare of Himself and 
His people? "I am the Vine, and ye are the 
branches." [St. John xv 15]. 

5. What did He say about our bearing fruit? 
We can bear no fruit except we abide in the 
Vine. [St. John xv: 4]. 

6. What may be said of the respective offi- 
ces of Baptism and Holy Communion? The 
Holy Communion (when rightly used) main- 
tains or supports the life given in Baptism. 

7. What does our Lord say to His disciples 
about their having life? " Except ye eat the 
flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye 
have no life in you." [St. John vi: 53]. 

8. Why was this Sacrament ordained by our 
Lord? "For a continual remembrance of the 
sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the ben- 
efits which we receive thereby. " 

9. What are the benefits which we receive 
thereby? A strengthening and refreshing of 
our souls. 

10. Must we wait to be perfect before 



THE SUPPER OF THE LORD. 



43 



we come? No, for then we should never 
come. 

11. Do we approach that altar as righteous; 
or as better than others? We go as the chief of 
sinners. 

12. Do we make professions, by coming for- 
ward to God's altar? No; we do it to obey our 
Master's commands, and we come confessing 
our sins. 

13. How many forms of Confession besides 
the Litany appear in the Book of Common 
Prayer? Three. 

14. Does St. Paul say we must be worthy be- 
fore we can partake of the Holy Communion? 
No, he says we must come worthily, i. e. , obedi- 
ently, humbly and with penitence . 

15. How did the Corinthian Christians eat 
and drink unworthily? By displaying in God's 
House the grossest irreverence, greed, pride 
and selfishness. 

16. What would you say in reply to the com- 
mon excuse "not good enough." "The question 
is not whether we are good enough or not, but 
whether we desire to obey Christ's injunction, 
and to be better than we are."* 

17. Whom does the Saviour wish to come 

* Prayer Book Reason Why, 



44 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



to this Holy Sacrament? All. ["Drink ye all 
of it." St. Mate. xxvi:27]. 

LESSON XVI. —CONFIRMATION. 
Exercise. Find Confirmation Office. Read passage 
of Scripture therein, "Defend, O Lord,' and Collect 
before the last. 

1. What is Confirmation? A solemn rite of 
the Church adopted from the practice of the 
Apostles. 

2. What is its Scripture name? The laying 
on of hands. 

3. In how many passages is Confirmation, or 
the germs of it, referred to in the New Testa- 
ment? Twice in Acts, and once in Hebrews. 
[Acts viii: 18. Actsxixizi. Heb. vi: 2]. 

4. Who baptized the converted Samaritans? 
Philip the Deacon. 

5. Who, having heard of these baptisms, sent 
two of their number to confirm them? The 
Apostles at Jerusalem. [Acts viii: 14]. 

6. Where else do we read of this rite? In 
Acts xix: 6. 

7. Along with what great principles of the 
Christian Religion is the laying on of hands 
classed in Hebrews vi? With Repentance, 
Faith, Baptism, Resurrection and Judgment. 

8. Name then the passages in the New Tes- 
tament where Confirmation is referred to. 



CONFIRMATION. 



45 



9. What else besides Scripture have we in 
testimony for Confirmation? The practice of 
the early Church. 

10. Quote what is said by St. Jerome as long 
ago as the year 375 or 400 after Christ. "Do 
you not know that now this is the custom of 
the churches, that on the Baptized, hands are 
afterwards laid, and thus the Holy Spirit is i 
voked? Do you demand where it is writ; 

In the book of Acts of the Apostles. But 
there were no authority of Scripture, the con- 
sent of the whole world in this part would be 
equivalent to a command." 

11. How may Confirmation be regarded? 
As a link between the two sacraments. 

12. What is said to the sponsors in the ser- 
vice for Infant Baptism? "Ye are to take care 
that this child be brought to the Bishop to be 
confirmed by him so soon as he can say the 
Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com- 
mandments." 

13. What else? "And is sufficiently instructed 
in the other parts of the Church Catechism 

14. What do we then take upon on; selves? 
The promises made for us in helpless infancy 
by the charitable work of our parents. 

15. What does our Saviour say about con- 
fessing Him before men? "Whosoever shall 



46 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



confess me before men, him will I confess be 
fore the Angels of God." [St. Matt, x: 32-33]. 

1 6. Do we become members of the Church 
at Confirmation? No; at Baptism. 

17. What must we always remember of the 
temptations under which we have fallen in the 
past? They will come up and assail us again. 

18. What does the word Confirmation mean? 
Making strong. 

19. What does the person confirmed ratify or 
make strong? His Baptismal promises. 

20. What may we believe God on His part 
does? Strengthens us by a special gift of the 
Holy Spirit. 



LESSON XVII.— THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (I). 

Exercise. Find I. Chaps, of Exodus, of Deuteronomy, 
of Genesis, Numbers, and Leviticus. 

1. What may we reverentially say the Bible 
is? A collection of documents on the subject 
of God and His Religion. 

2. What does the Bible contain? God's Rev- 
elation to man. 

3. Was the whole Book written at one time? 
No; its composition covered a period of 1500 
years. 

4. "Who were its penmen? Many different 
servants of God. 



THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (i). 



47 



5. What then is the theme pervading the 
whole? Directly or indirectly the subject is 
GOD. 

6. Which came first on the earth, Religion 
or the Old Testament? Religion. 

7. Which came first, Christianity or the New 
Testament ? Christianity. 

8. Can any other book occupy for us the place 
held by the Bible? No other book. 

9. What do you mean by the Old Testament? 
That part of the Scriptures given before the 
coming of the Lord Christ. 

10. By the New Testament? That part 
written since His coming. 

11. What is the first book of the Bible? 
Genesis. 

12. By whom was it originally compiled? 
By Moses. 

13. What part of Holy Scripture is his work ? 
The Pentateuch, comprising the first five books 
in the Bible. 

14. Were the Holy Scriptures intended to 
teach us Geology, Astronomy, etc? Spiritual 
truth only. 

15. What do you mean by Spiritual truth ? 
The existence and will of God; obedience and 
its reward ; disobedience and its punishment, 
etc. 



48 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

16. What besides? The history of God's 
dealings with man. 

17. Why not material sciences as Geology 
and Astronomy? Because men could learn 
these for themselves, without Revelation. 

18. What is the meaning of a Revelation? 
Something we could not have learned for our- 
selves. 

19. What words have described the Bible as 
a medium of communication between God and 
man? 4 4 God spoke to man, not in the language 
of heaven; not in the speech of angels, nor 
yet of archangels; but in that of earth." 

20. To what may the whole Bible be com 
pared? To a letter written by a father to his 
children across the sea. 



LESSON XVIII.— THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (II). 

Exercise. Find the I. Chaps, of Joshua, II. Chroni- 
cles, Ruth, Nehemiah, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jonah and 
Micah. 

1. What does the Old Testament chiefly re- 
late? God's dealings with His chosen people. 

2. After the Pentateuch, what books carry 
the history of the Jewish people on till the time 
of Saul? Joshua, Judges and Samuel. 

3. Who was Samuel? The first of the pro- 
phets. 



THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (il). 



49 



4. Who was the first king of Israel? Saul, 
the son of Kish. 

5. Who succeeded Saul? King David. 

6. Who followed David? Solomon, his son. 

7. What books carry the history on through 
Solomon's days? I. and II. Kings, I. and II. 
Chronicles. 

8. What great judgment was sent on Israel 
and Judah for their idolatry? They were car- 
ried away captive to Assyria and Babylon. 

9. Who are called the four Greater Prophets? 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. 

10. What books close the Old Testament? 
The twelve Minor Prophets. 

11. We see how God chose one nation, the 
Jews, to whom He revealed Himself and 
taught them spiritual truth — what illustration 
can you make? A settler in a new country 
commences work on one new field at a time. 

1 2. Why does he thus confine himself ? That 
the land may be properly prepared to bear a 
crop. 

13. What does the settler do the second 
Winter? By bringing in more land, he ex- 
tends his bounds. 

14. When did God thus enlarge the bounda- 
ries of His earthly Kingdom ? At the coming 
of the Lord Jesus. 



50 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



15. How does St. Paul speak of this? As 
the breaking down of the wall or partition be- 
tween Jews and Gentiles. 

16. What season in the Christian Year com- 
memorates this? The Epiphany. 

17. Who are commended in the Acts of the 
Apostles, because they searched the Scriptures 
daily? The Bereans. [Acts xvii: 10, 13. 
Acts xx: 4]. 

18. What was said of Timothy? "From a 
child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures." 
[II. Tim. iii: 15]. 

19. What was meant by 4 4 the Scriptures' ' in 
our Lord's and the Apostles' days? The Old 
Testament. 

zo, What is said of them in the New Testa- 
ment ? That they were written for our learning. 
[Rom. xv : 4]. 



LESSON XIX.— THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (III). 

Exercise. Find St. Luke's Gospel; the Acts; St. 
Paul's letters to the Church in Corinth and Thessalon- 
ica. I. Peter, Jude, I. John, James, Revelation. 

1. Did the Lord Jesus write any part of the 
Bible? No; He left His Apostles to teach the 
world His doctrines. 

2. As the disciples who had seen the Lord, 
and were familiar with His life and teachings, 



THL HOLY SCRIPTURES (ill). 



began to grow old, what did they do? They 
set down the substance of what they had for 
years been preaching and telling. 

3. Which, therefore, came first, the Christian 
Church or the New Testament? The Christian 
Church. 

4. How may the four Gospels be described? 
They are short accounts of the life and words 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

5. Why was it well to write these down? 
They might otherwise have become corrupted 
through tradition. 

6. What are the chief documents contained 
in the New Testament? The four Gospels, 
the Acts, the Epistles and the Book of Revela- 
tion. 

7. Who wrote the Acts of the Apostles? St. 
Luke. 

8. Who wrote Epistles or letters? St. Paul, 
St. Peter, St. John, St. James and St. Jude. 

9. Which was probably the first part of the 
New Testament to be written? St. Paul's I. 
Epistle to Thessalonians. 

10. Mention some of the chief subjects of 
the New Testament. The Incarnation (or 
taking flesh) of the Son of God on earth. 

11. What else? His Divine miracles and 
sayings. 



52 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



12. What did Christ teach as to the character 
of God? He said, 4 'He that hath seen Me hath 
seen the Father." 

13. What else do we read of in the New 
Testament? The Atonement. 

14. What other great Doctrine of Christian- 
ity is seen in the New Testament? The Res- 
urrection. 

15. Upon what is Christianity really 
founded ? On the wonderful facts of -the life 
of Jesus Christ. 

16. Can you express this in another way? 
Christianity is a system of objective facts 
which are unchangeable. 

17. How did the people learn about Christ 
and His teachings through the years before the 
New Testament was completed? The truths 
of Scripture were taught by the Church before 
they were written down. 

18. What is the meaning of the word Gos- 
pel? Good news. 

19. Read the Collect for the II. Sunday in 
Advent. 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (i). 



53 



LESSON XX. — THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (I). 

Exercise. Find the Ordinal in the Prayer Book. 
Read Collect for III. Sunday in Advent. 

1. What is the Christian Year? The earthly 
life of our Saviour spread before us. 

2. What is the advantage of observing the 
Christian Year? It brings before us equally 
and in turn all the main facts on which Chris- 
tianity is based. 

3. What Season introduces the Christian 
Year? Advent. 

4. Of what is Advent intended to remind us? 
Of the return of our Lord to judge the world. 

5. How many Comings are there? Two. 
One of them is past, and one is yet to be. 

6. Who prepared the way for the first coming 
of Christ? John the Baptist. 

7. Who prepare and make ready the way for 
His second Advent? The ministers and stew- 
ards of His mysteries. 

8. What are clergymen called by St. Paul? 
Ambassadors for Christ. [II. Cor. v: 20]. 

9. What is the meaning of an ambassa- 
dor? A servant of one court present in 
another. , 

10. Do we know when the II. Advent will 
take place ? No ; even the angels do not. [St. 
Mark xiii : 32]. 



54 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



11. What advice does our Saviour give? To 
watch; for He will return suddenly. 

12. Mention one of the Parables of the II. 
Advent. The Parable of the Ten Virgins. 

13. What is there noticeable about the cir- 
cumstances of this Parable? That the first 
round of oil had burnt quite out before the 
Bridegroom came. 

14. To what would this point? To a long 
intervening period of the Church's history be- 
fore Christ's return. 

15. What part of our Saviour's earthly life 
can we all best imitate? The first thirty years, 
w r hen He lived at Nazareth. 

16. What is told us in St. Luke of this period 
of His life? That He was subject unto His 
earthly guardians. [St. Lukeii: 5]. 

17. What did the Jews exclaim when He 
first began to preach? "Is not this the car- 
penter?" [St. Markvi: 3]. 

18. What does this indicate? That He had 
been all along engaged in the workman's toil. 

19. What has this fact done for labor? It 
has dignified all labor, making it more noble 
than idleness, till the end of time. 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (ll). 



5$ 



LESSON XXL— THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (II). 

Exercise, Find Collect for the Circumcision, for 
Epiphany, I. Sunday after Epiphany and VI. Sunday 
in Lent. Find the Ante-Communion service. 

1. By what names is the Festival of the In- 
carnation designated in the Prayer Book? 
Christmas Day, or the Nativity of our Lord. 

2. What does the Nicene Creed say of the 
Incarnation of our Lord ? 

3. Why do we at Christmas make gifts to 
our friends? In memory of the great Gift 
God at that season made to us — His only 
Son. 

4. What is the Christmas message? "Upon 
earth peace, good will towards men." 

5. What event in the earthly life of our Lord 
is next commemorated in the Christian Y ear? 
The Circumcision of Christ (January 1st). 

6. What follows? The Epiphany (January 
6th), and its season. 

7. What does Epiphany mean and commem- 
orate? Manifestation, or showing of Christ to 
the Gentiles. 

8. Who were the first to greet the Infant 
Saviour from the Gentile world ? The wise men 
from the East. 

9. What does St. Paul say of the Church of 
Christ? "There is neither Jew nor Greek 



56 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



(Gentile), barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free." 
[Col. iii: nj. 

10. What subject is generally brought before 
us in the Epiphany season ? Foreign Missions. 

11. What are the lessons of Epiphany? 
Toleration and brotherhood. 

12. What event in Christ's life is next com 
memorated? The Presentation in the Temple 
(February 2d). 

13. Why did the Saviour submit to these var- 
ious Jewish rites? Because it was the Law of 
God for His nation. 

14. What do the forty days of Lent com- 
memorate? Our Lord's fasting in the wilder- 
ness. 

1 5. What is the practical object of this season, 
which has been called the yearly Revival in the 
Church? By withdrawing from the world to 
deepen the spiritual life within us. 

16. What can we set before ourselves in 
Lent? More time for prayer and deeds of ser- 
vice for others. 

17. What else? Self-denial or extra work, 
that we may have more to give. 

18. What does Good Friday commemorate? 
The Atonement. 

19. Mention from the Old Testament two 
types of the Passion of Christ. Joseph sold by 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (ill). 



57 



his brethren for twenty pieces of silver; and 
Isaac bearing the wood for the burnt sacrifice. 

20. What is meant by one's "cross" in life? 
Something in our lot that we find we cannot 
change. 

LESSON XXII,— THE CHRISTIAN YEAR (III). 

Exercise. Find the Collect for Easter Even, and the 
special preface for Trinity Sunday in the Communion 
service. 

1. What does the glorious Festival of Easter 
represent? The Festival of the Resurrection. 

2. What three testimonies were there to the 
truth of Christ's Resurrection from the dead? 
The testimony of His enemies [St. Matt, 
xxviii: 11]; the testimony of His friends [St. 
John xx: 16J; and the testimony of the two 
angels in white [St. Matt, xxviii: 6J. 

3. What constituted the main theme of the 
Apostles' preaching as recorded in the Book of 
Acts? The fact of their Master's Resurrection. 

4. For, what did the Resurrection prove ? 
That He was God, and held all power in Heaven 
and earth. 

5. What do the Apostles in all their preach- 
ing call themselves? 4 1 Witnesses of His Res- 
urrection." 

6. What example of resurrection have we 



53 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



from Nature ? The return of the leaves and 
grass in Spring. 

7. Again ? We sow a grain of corn. It per- 
ishes. But from it springs a living plant bear- 
ing a thousand fold. 

8. Can you give another example ? The trans- 
formation of the chrysalis into the butterfly. 

9. How long after His rising was our blessed 
Lord on earth? Forty days. 

10. What Festival commemorates His depart- 
ure, and when does it come? Ascension Day, 
forty days after Easter; always Thursday. 

11. Concerning what did our Lord instruct 
His disciples during those forty days? The 
things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 
[Acts i: 3]. 

12. What is Christ's usual expression for the 
Church on earth? The Kingdom of God, or of 
Heaven. 

13. What does the Apostles' Creed say of 
Christ's Ascension? 

14. What Sunday in the Christian year falls 
ten days after Ascension Day? Whitsunday. 

15. What does Whitsunday commemorate? 
The sending of the promised Comforter or 
Holy Spirit. 

16. Name the Sunday following Whitsun- 
day. Trinity Sunday. 



THE PRAYER BOOK (i). 



5,9 



17. Of what does the annual recurrence of 
Trinity Sunday remind us? Of the doctrine 
of the Trinity, or Three Persons in One. 

18. Show a place in the Prayer Book where 
the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are in 
turn addressed. The beginning of the Litany. 

19. What may be said of the Gospels of the 
long Trinity Season? They are practical, and 
filled with the teachings and miracles of our 
Lord. 

20. How long does Trinity Season last? 
From Whitsuntide until Advent. 

21. Upon what does the exact length of the 
Trinity Season depend? Upon the length of 
the Epiphany Season. 

22. What has been said of the Christian Year 
as a whole? "The Christian Year is a lively 
and systematic exposition of the Christian 
Creed.' ' 



LESSON XXIII.— THE PRAYER BOOK (I). 

Exercise. Find the three Confessions of the Prayer 
Book. 

1. What is the meaning of a Liturgy? A 
form of prayer and worship. 

2. When was the Book of Common Prayer 
drawn up ? At the Reformation, 350 years ago. 

3. Did not our reformers find both in the 



6o 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



Old and New Testaments authority for prepar- 
ing a Liturgy? Yes. 

4. Did the Early Christian Church also 
authorize it? Yes. 

5. Where in the Bible do we read of God's 
giving Moses forms for use? In Numbers vi, 
and elsewhere.* 

6. Where in the Prayer Book is one of these 
forms placed ? In the Office for the Visitation 
of the sick. 

7. What then can you say of this beautiful 
form of benediction? It is the oldest piece of 
Liturgy in the world, and given directly from 
Heaven. 

8. Did not the Jews have a Liturgy, and did 
not the Lord Jesus Himself use it? Yes. 

9. What form of prayer did He give His own 
disciples to use? The Lord's Prayer. 

10. Have any of the Liturgies of the early 
Christians come down to us? Yes; four or five 
of them. 

11. The materials used in our Prayer Book 
came from several sources, — name the first of 
these. Holy Scriptures. (Three-fifths). 

12. Name the second source. Ancient ser- 
vice books drawn up and used by the early 



*Deut. xxxii. 



THE PRAYER BOOK (i). 



61 



Christians, fifteen hundred years ago. (One- 
i fifth). 

13. Name the third source of the materials 
used in the Prayer Book. Additional composi- 
tions by the reformers. (One-fifth). 

14. To illustrate each of these — name por- 
tions of the Prayer Book taken from Holy 
Scripture. The Epistles and Gospels, the 
Psalter, the Lord's Prayer, the Benedictus, 
Jubilate and the Grace. 

15. Give instances of parts of Ancient 
Liturgies of the Church. The Creeds, the 
Gloria in Excelsis, the Ter Sanctus, the 
Shorter Absolution, and a number of the 
Collects. 

16. What parts are compositions of the Re- 
formers, especially Cranmer? The Exhorta- 
tion, the General Confession, General Thanks- 
giving, and a number of the Collects. 

17. What does the word Collect mean? A 
short or collected prayer. 

18. How does the Prayer Book version of 
the Psalms and Decalogue come to slightly differ 
from that of our common Bible? When the 
Prayer Book was drawn up, the King James 
translation, which we now use, had not been 
made. Therefore the Prayer Book compilers 
had only an older translation from which to 



62 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



quote, viz., the " Great Bible/* made fifty 
years before the King James. 



LESSON XXIV.— THE PRAYER BOOK (II). 

Exercise. Show parts of the Prayer Book from 
Ancient Liturgies ; show parts the composition of the 
Reformers. 

1. What advantages are there in using forms 
of prayer? The people know what they are 
going to ask for, and can participate intelli- 
gently. 

2. How is this better? The soul is not 
hampered by the exercise of the mind. 

3. In other words? There is opportunity 
for prayers to come from the heart. 

4. How does St. Paul say we ought to pray ? 
With the heart and with the understanding 
also. [I. Cor. iv: 15]. 

5. What other advantage do we find? No 
unseemly words or expressions are heard in 
the House of God. 

6. What is meant by "Common Prayer"? 
Prayer that is shared by all. 

7. Should Christians go to Church chiefly to 
give or to receive? To give. 

8. Give or render what? Their praise and 
homage to Almighty God. 

9. How is the Holy Communion spoken of 



THE PRAYER BOOK (il). 



6 3 



in that service? As "this our sacrifice of 
praise and thanksgiving. " 

10. What proportion of the congregation 
present at service might reasonably be expected 
to take part in the General Confession ? All 
who can remember ever to have done wrong. 

11. Would not this apply to every person 
present in the Church ? Yes. 

1 2. Who ought to join in the General Thanks- 
giving ? Everyone who has received the gift 
of life, health, reason, Redemption. 

13. What should every member of the 
Church, or of the Sunday school, possess? His, 
or her, own Prayer Book. 

14. When was the first edition of the Prayer 
Book published? In 1549, in the reign of King 
Edward VI. 

15. Who took a leading part in the work? 
Archbishop Cranmer. 

16. How many of the Sunday Collects were 
taken from early Liturgies? Forty-five; be- 
sides, ten of the Holy day Collects. 

17. Mention some other Prayers that have 
been certainly in use for 1,400 years. The two 
placed after the Creed in the Morning Service, 
and the two placed after the Creed at Evening 
Service. 

18. What may be said of the Apostles' Creed, 



64 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



the Gloria in Excelsis or Angels' song, the Ter 
Sanctus or Thrice Holy, and the shorter Abso- 
lution? That they date back further, into the 
earliest dawn of Christianity. 

LESSON XXV,— CONSCIENCE. 
Exercise. Repeat Psalm 19, verses 14 and 15. [Pri- 
vate Prayer before service.] Find the places for the 
day. Find the Kyrie. 

1. Besides the Church and the Bible, what 
other guide has God given us on the road 
through earth to Heaven? Conscience. 

2. Quote a beautiful text about Conscience 
from Isaiah. "And thine ears shall hear a 
word behind thee saying, This is the way, walk 
ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and 
when ye turn to the left." [Isa. xxx: 21 J. 

3. What is meant by saying that God has 
given us Christian liberty? That He has left 
many things to be settled by each follower for 
himself, by his own conscience. 

4. What did Christ command? "Judge not 
that ye be not judged." [St. Matt, vii: 1, 2]. 

5. Shall we hereafter have to give account 
for our own sins or for those of others? For 
our own sins. 

6. What should we Christians carry about 
with us wherever we go ? The service of God 
in our hearts. 



CONSCIENCE. 



65 



7. Why does not the Episcopal Church make 
strict laws about amusements? Because she 
thinks it sufficient to instil God's Ten Laws, 
without adding any others. 

8. These Laws forbid every sin known to 
man — what do the Church's children pray each 
Sunday about these Laws? That they may be 
written and kept, in our hearts. 

9. When young persons resolve to keep thesa 
Laws, in spirit and letter (as at Confirmation we 
promise by God's grace to do), what may be 
said of their participating in such recrea- 
tions? They will not be harmed thereby. 

10. What should be our aim and standard? 
To use the world, but not abuse it. [I. Cor. 
vii: 31]. In other words, not to go to excess, 
which is sin. 

11. What might be a test whether God's good 
gifts are hurting us by being abused? If they 
lead us to selfishness, instead of into a more 
grateful, loving service. 

12. What is needful in order to true manli- 
ness and womanliness among our fellow crea- 
tures ? Self-respect. 

13. How only can self-respect be acquired? 
By striving as St. Paul strove, to keep always 
a conscience void of offence. [Acts xxiv: 16]. 

14. In regard to amusements and all lawful 



66 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



pleasures God has given us Christian liberty. 
What, however, may frequently be our duty, 
for the sake of others? To give up certain 
things, lest others be led astray by them. [I. 
Cor. viii: 13]. 

15. Quote the words of Jeremy Taylor. 
4 'What -is there in the world to distinguish 
virtues from dishonor, or that can make any- 
thing rewardable — but the labor, and the 
danger, and the pain, and the difficulty?" 

16. When do§s Eternal Life begin? For 
God's servants it begins in this world. 

17. What would you say of the safety of a 
man who is trying to cross a dangerous and 
wide river in the dark, on a bridge that has no 
railing? He is safe so long as he does not 
turn aside "to the right hand or to the left" 

18. Name the five divisions of the Catechism. 
The Christian Covenant; the Christian Creed, 
or what to believe ; the Decalogue, or what to 
do; Prayer; the Sacraments. 



THE CHRISTIAN COVENANT. 



6 7 



LESSON XXVI.— DIVISIONS OF THE CATE- 
CHISM — THE CHRISTIAN COVENANT. 

Exercise. Trace the Ten Commandments through 
the Duty to God and the neighbour, in the Church Cate- 
chism. 

1. What is the origin and meaning of N or 
M? N or NN, meaning name or names.* 

2. What is a Covenant? An agreement or 
compact. 

3. How many parties are needful, that a 
Covenant may be formed? Two or more. 

4. Between whom may Covenants exist? 
Between the strong and the strong. Two 
kings may unite their armies; two Govern- 
ments may cooperate. 

5. Again? Between the weak and the weak. 
Birds may combine for warmth and protection; 
ants for building homes. 

6. Between whom is the Christian Covenant ? 
Between God and man — the Strong and the 
weak. 

7. What Covenant existed in the world before 
our Saviour came? The Mosaic Covenant, 
applying to one nation only, the Hebrews. 

8. To whom does the Christian Covenant 
apply ? To all nations. 

* NN contracted into M. 



68 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

9. Quote the words of Christ announcing this 
Covenant. "Go make disciples of all nations, 
baptizing them.'" [St. Matthew]. "Go ye 
into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
every creature. " [St. Mark]. 

10. What is the door or mode of entrance into 
this Covenant? Baptism, for old and young. 

11. Name the privileges we acquire by 
•entering it — in other words, What is God's part 
in the compact? He makes each one of us (in 
a special sense) to become "a member of 
Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the 
Kingdom of Heaven.' ' 

12. What do we each undertake, through our- 
selves or through our sponsors, as our side of the 
Covenant? Three things. First, that I should 
renounce the Devil and all his works, the pomps 
and vanities of this wicked world, and all the 
sinful lusts of the flesh. Secondly, that I 
should believe all the articles of the Christian 
Faith (the Apostles' Creed), and thirdly, that 
I keep God's holy will and Commandments 
(the Decalogue) and walk in the same all the 
days of my life. 

13. As long as this Covenant between God 
and man, between earth and Heaven, exists 
unbroken on our part, to what is it equivalent 
for us? To a state of salvation. 



THE CHRISTIAN COVENANT. 69 

i 14. What does the Catechism say about this 
state of salvation? "I heartily thank our 
Heavenly Father that He hath called me to 
this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ our 
Saviour; and I pray unto God^to give me His 
grace that I may continue in the same until my 
life's end. " 

15. What does this refer to? To the need of 
perseverance. 

16. What then do we require, to help us to 
persevere? The grace or aid of God. 

17. To show the need of perseverance, what 
does the Christian life resemble? A journey 
we have to make before dark; a road which we 
must pass before we can reach our destination. 

18. If a man is journeying from New York 
to Florida, what will be his fate if he stops half 
way, at Richmond? He will not reach his 
destination. 

19. What does St. Paul say about Persever- 
ance? ' 1 Let us not be weary in well doing, for 
in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." 
[Gal. vi: 9; II. Thes. iii: 13J. 

20. And St. John? 1 1 Be thou faithful unto 
death, and I will give thee a crown of Life." 
[Rev. ii. : io]. 



70 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



LESSON XXVII.— DIVISIONS OP THE CAT- 
ECHISM—THE CHRISTIAN CREED. 

Exercise. Find Chants for use after I. and II. Lessons, 
at Morning and Evening Prayer. Find two Forms of 
Blessing in Prayer Book. 

1. When was the Apostles' Creed drawn tip? 
In very early Christian days. 

2. Who drew it up? The Christian Church. 

3. What did it embody? The main features 
of the Apostles' teaching. 

4. What other important thing was done 
about the same time? The various Christian 
writings were collected and sifted. 

5. With what object? To set the Church's 
seal upon what were apostolic and genuine. 

6. What was the result? The New Testa- 
ment. 

7. What is the longer or "Nicene" Creed? 
An amplification or expansion of the Apostles' 
Creed. 

8. When was it drawn up? At the Council 
of Nice, in 325.* 

9. What was the need of Creeds? That there 
might be not only one Lord but one Faith in 
the Christian world. 

* From "I believe in the Holy Ghost" to the end 
was added at the Second Gen. Council, Constantinople, 
in 381. 



THE CHRISTIAN CREED, 



71 



10. What do these Creeds embody? The 
great and essential facts of the Gospel. 

11. Why is it "I believe, " and not zve? Be- 
cause the Creed was originally prepared for the 
use of candidates in Baptism. 

12. Why in Baptism? In order that those to 
be baptized might intelligently profess their 
faith in Holy Scripture. 

13. Quote the Baptism Service used to-day. 
4 * Dost thou believe all the Articles of the 
Christian Faith as contained in the Apostles' 
Creed? Answer, I do. " 

14. What constitutes the value of the Creeds 
as regards Christian unity? They are the un- 
changeable witness of the Undivided Church 
as to what were the leading doctrines of Scrip- 
ture. 

15. In what other way besides by the Creeds 
does the Historic Chuich witness as an inter- 
preter? Through the writings of the early 
Christian Fathers. 

16. What is the chief cause of the many 
Christian divisions at the present day? The 
lack (with many) of an authoritative standard 
by which to interpret the Bible. 

17. Are men justified for the sake of their 
faith, or for the sake of their works? Neither; 
but for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. 



72 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

1 8. Suppose a condemned prisoner to be 
pardoned through the intercession of a friend, 
will that profit him if he refuses to believe it? 
Xo. 

19. Suppose that he does believe it, but re- 
fuses to act upon the good news? It will not 
profit him. 



LESSON XXVIII. — DIVISIONS OF THE CAT- 
ECHISM—THE DECALOGUE. 

Exercise. What is the name of this Sunday? Find 
Psalms and Collect, the Venite and Te Deum. 

1. What may be said of the many stories of 
the Old Testament? That they illustrate the 
results of keeping and of disobeying the Laws 
of God. 

2. What does the I. Commandment forbid ? 
All kinds of Idolatry. 

3. Mention some things that we are liable 
to idolize. Luck, Chance, Fame, Honor, Pleas- 
ure or Money. 

4. What does the II. Commandment forbid? 
The worship of God, or His representation, 
under any visible shape. 

5. How do we break the III. Law of God? 
By profanity. 

6. What should we be most careful about 



THE DECALOGUE. 



73 



using in common talk? Sacred names and 
Eternal subjects. 

7. How do we violate the IV. Command- 
ment? By working on the Lord's Day. 

8. Does this Commandment forbid works of 
necessity or charity? No; but money-making 
business—the six days' work. 

9. How do we violate the V. Law given on 
Sinai? By dishonoring parents, or those in 
lawful authority over us. 

10. How does the Catechism explain the VI. 
Commandment? "To hurt nobody by word or 
deed ; to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart. ' ' 

11. How does the Catechism explain the VII. 
Commandment against Adultery? <4 To keep 
my body in temperance, soberness, and chas- 
tity. " 

12. What did our Lord state to be the origin 
of this and all other sins? "The thoughts of 
the heart/' [St. Matt, xv: 9]. 

13. What therefore should we try to guard 
against? All evil thoughts. 

14. What does the VIII. Commandment for- 
bid? Injustice, dishonesty, misrepresentation 
in trade 

15. What more? Not paying one's lawful 
debts; and gambling in any form, i. e., games 
of chance, lottery, etc. 



74 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



1 6. How do we break the IX. ? By bearing 
false tales, scandal, * i lying, and slandering/' 

17. The X. ? By discontent and murmuring. 

18. What is the prayer we all need to use for 
help to obey these Laws? "Lord, have mercy 
upon us, and write all these Thy Laws in our 
hearts, we beseech Thee." 

19. How would you sum up all that is taught 
by the first Table of the Law (the first four 
Commandments) ? Reverence towards God. 

20. By the second Table? Love towards our 
neighbor. 

21. State the literal meaning of the word 
used by the New Testament writers for to sin, 
To miss the mark. 



LESSON XXIX.— DIVISIONS OF THE 
CATECHISM— PRAYER. 

Exercise. Find Family Prayer, Morning and Even- 
ing, in Prayer Book. What are the Proper Psalms for 
Christmas Morning, and for Easter Evening? 

1. How does the Collect for the XII. Sunday 
after Trinity describe Almighty God? As 
always more ready to hear than we to pray. 

2. Why do we need to pray? Because of the 
frailty of our nature. 

' 3. Why besides? Our Lord Himself prayed, 
and thus set us an example. 



PRAYER. 



75 



4. Moreover ? He told His followers to do 
so. 

5. Give some of His words. Ask, and it 
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find. 
[St. Luke xi : 9]. 

6. What does the Bible teach is needful be- 
fore we can receive an answer? Faith. [St. 
Mark xi: 24; St. James i: 6J. 

7. Why do we conclude our prayers with the 
Name of Christ? Because He said, "Whatso- 
ever ye shall ask the Father in My Name He 
will give it you." [St. Johnxv: 16; St. John 
xvi : 23J. 

8. What prayer did He leave us, to use and 
to imitate? The Lord's Prayer. 

9. Where in the Catechism is it explained ? 
In the "Desire." 

10. What does the Lord's Prayer contain? 
First, three petitions for God's glory; then four 
for our own needs. 

11. What text can you quote in comment 
upon this order of arrangement? "Seek ye 
first the Kingdom of God and His righteous- 
ness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you." [St. Matt, vi: 3 J. 

12. What does the word "our" in the Lord's 
Prayer denote? The brotherhood of man. 

13. Does God always hear our Prayers? Yes. 



76 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



14. What of His answers to prayer 7 He 
always answers them either in the way we de- 
sire, or in some other and better way. 

15. Quote some words of explanation. 44 It 
is the will of God to establish a connection be- 
tween Prayer and the bestowal of blessings." 

16. Whom can you mention among others 
from the Scriptures as men and women of 
prayer? Abraham, Moses, Hannah, Daniel, 
Cornelius and St. Paul. 

17. What different kinds of prayer are 
there? Private prayer, Family prayer anc 
Public prayer. 

18. What may be always noticed in a family 
and its children where Family prayer is not 
neglected? They prosper. 

19. Does Family prayer or Private prayer 
ever delay work or a journey? No. 

20. Quote an old saying about prayer. 
"Prayer moves the hand that moves the world. " 

21. Read what is said in St. Matt, vi: 6. 
May it be so with you all, in youth and age. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



77 



LESSON XXX.— DIVISIONS OF THE CAT- 
ECHISM— THE SACRAMENTS. 

Exercise. Find "Ye are to take care," in Baptism 
of Infants. Collect for Christmas Day. The Chants 
after I. Evening Lesson. 

1. What is the 5th and last division of the 
Catechism? The Sacraments. 

2. How may we regard the Sacraments? As 
bonds of union between God and man. 

3. Name the two great Sacraments or Cove- 
nant rites of the Christian Religion. Baptism 
and the Supper of the Lord. 

4. What is a Sacrament? Something or- 
dained by Christ Himself. 

5. What do you mean by "generally neces- 
sary?" As a general rule, needful. Needful 
where it may be had. 

6. How may the union between God and the 
soul of man be said to be kept up? On our 
part by Obedience; on His by the Sacraments 

7. What does Baptism do for a child? It 
puts him in a new relation towards God. ["By 
adoption and grace"]. 

8. This is a great benefit — what is the serious 
part about it? That the "charitable work" 
may be wasted, that is, humanly speaking. 

9. What must parents do? Train the child 
onwards "according to this beginning." 



78 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



10. What does this include? Prayer with 
your child, prayer for your child, and teaching 
it to pray. 

11. What other training? Obedience to 
Law should be taught, Reverence and Kind- 
ness. 

12. May not the evil effects of heredity be 
overcome by judicious training? Yes. 

13. What is the great privilege of sponsors? 
To assist the parents in training the child, and 
in certain cases to take their place. 

14. What does Solomon say? ' ' Train up a 
child in the way that he should go, and when 
he is old he will not depart from it. 99 [Prov. 
xxii: 6]. 

15. In administering the Holy Communion 
to the receivers what words from Scripture does 
the priest use ? "The Body of our Lord Jesus 
which was given for thee," etc. "The blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for 
thee," etc. 

16. What does this show the Holy Eucharist 
to be? A medicine for the soul. 

17. What other words from Scripture does 
the priest employ? "Take and eat this . . 
drink this ... in remembrance that 
Christ died for thee . . . that Christ's 
blood w r as shed for thee ? " 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



79 



18. What do these words show this Holy 
Sacrament to be? A memorial also. 

19. Are not both these views to be received, 
e ach without prejudice to the other ? They are. 

20. By whom are the Body and Blood of 
Christ received in the Supper? By the faith- 
ful. 



STORY OF AN OLD SOLDIER, FATHER 
f BONAVENTURE. 

"Children," said the old man, "I am very 
old. See, I have scarcely a hair on my head. 
Well, during my long career I have remarked 
five things. Try and remember them, and you 
will be happy. 

"1st. Working on Sunday never made any 
one richer. 

"2d. Stolen or ill-gotten goods have never 
profited any one. 

"3d. Giving alms has never made any one • 
poorer. 

"4th. Morning and evening prayer have 
never delayed work. 

"5th. A disobedient and unruly child has 
never prospered. ' ' 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



PART II. 

LESSON XXXI. — MISSIONS (I). 

Exercise. To what Diocese do we belong? Who is 
Bishop of this Diocese? When and where was he con- 
secrated? Find the places for this Evening's Service, 
in their order. • 

1. What was the last command of our Saviour 
uttered to His followers, before He left the 
earth? To go make disciples of all nations; to 
go into all the world ana preach the Gospel to 
every creature. [St. Matt, xxviii; St. Mark 
xvi]. 

2. Should we ask the question, 4 4 Why cannot 
the heathen be saved without the Gospel?" 
No; we should rather say, How can we be 
saved without trying to send it to them? 

3. What Parables of our Lord referred to 
missions? ''The Marriage of the King's son" 
[St. Matt, xxii], and "The Great Supper" [St. 
Luke xiv]. 

4. Why does the King in these Parables send 
out into the highways and hedges? Because 
some of those first invited declined. Thus their 
seats were vacant. 



MISSIONS (I). 



81 



5. What must be said of many persons who 
live in Christian lands to-day? They have de- 
clined God's invitations, and their places will 
be taken by the heathen. 

6. What seems to be His object in sending 
out other invitations, through missionaries? 
That His House may be filled. 

7. W T hat did our Lord mean in the Parable 
by the highways and hedges? Out of-the-way 
places, where the people are ignorant. 

8. Who are among His servants to-day bring- 
ing in guests from the highways and hedges? 
Our Foreign and Domestic Missionaries. 

9. By what other comparison did Christ 
show that His Kingdom was intended to extend 
and spread? By the Parable of the leaven; 
which may stand for influence. 

10. Speaking of influence, upon what does 
our influence more than all else depend ? Upon 
our characters. 

11. Quote a true saying. " We admire intel- 
lect, but are led by character.'* 

12. How is such character obtained? By a 
consistent and faithful life. 

13. Quote the Lord's words to St. Peter. 
"When thou art converted, strengthen thy 
brethren." [St. Luke xxii: 23 J. 

14. Had all the people in Jerusalem been 



82 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



turned to Christianity when the Apostles left 
that city? No. 

15. Had all the people of Antioch been con- 
verted when St. Paul and St. Barnabas set out 
from that vast city on their First Missionary 
journey? No. 

16. What is the meaning of the word Gospel? 
Good news. 

17. What is the good news that missionaries 
have to bear? That all the world is redeemed 
by Christ. 

18. In substance, what is this? That Eden' 
once lost may be restored to the human race. 



LESSON XXXII.— MISSIONS (II). 

Exercise. Find 3d Collect for Good Friday, and 
Collect for Missions in "Prayers and Thanksgivings 
upon several occasions.' Find the Te Deurn and 
Litany. 

n What ought all Christians in some way to 
be? Missionaries. 

2. If we cannot engage in active mission 
work ourselves, what should w r e each have? 
Our substitutes. 

3. What do you mean by substitutes? Those 
who can go. 

4. How can we rightly call them ours? By 



MISSIONS (II). 



helping to support them and keep them in the 
field. 

5. How else can we greatly aid them? Pray 
for them. 

6. Where do we read of fasting, prayers, and 
alms going together, and being acceptable to 
God? In the case of Cornelius. [Acts xj. 

7. Into what three classes can Missions be 
divided? Into Foreign, Domestic, and Dio- 
cesan. 

8. What is the purpose of Foreign Missions? 
The extending of Christ's Kingdom in heathen 
lands beyond the seas. 

9. In what foreign countries has the Episco- 
pal Church organized Missions? In China, 
Japan, and Africa. It also aids the Church 
in Hayti, and supports a Mission School in 
Greece. 

10. What do you mean by Domestic Missions? 
Those in parts of our own country, the United 
States, where there are but few churches or 
clergmen. 

11. How many Missionary Jurisdictions 
have we in the United States, apart from the 
regular Dioceses? Eighteen. 

12. What are Diocesan Missions? The mis- 
sionary work done in the weaker parts of our 
own Diocese. 



34 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



13. What is the duty of every organized par- 
ish, besides doing its own work at home? To 
look beyond its own borders. 

14. What will be the result of this unselfish 
policy? Such parishes will grow and be strong. 

15. Experience teaches this. W T hat text can 
you quote? "He that watereth shall be watered 
again." [Prov. xi: 25 J. 

16. Speaking of success, are our orders to 
conquer or to fight? To fight. 

17. What has the Book of Acts been called ? 
A specimen page of God's great record of 
Missions. Its last page has not yet been 
written. 

18. Are our orders to sow or to reap? To 
sow. The reward is given for sowing. 

19. Can you quote Archbishop Whately? 
* 4 Some consider me very sanguine because I 
always attempt whatever has even a slight pros- 
pect of success, and I am never disheartened by 
failure. But the fact is, I never do fail; for 
my orders are not to conquer, but to fight, and 
whenever I do happen to conquer also, that is 
so much over and above." 



GIVING. 



85 



LESSON XXXIII.— GIVING. 

Exercise. Read or learn some of the Offertory- 
Sentences. 

1. What kind of a Religion is Christianity? 
A Religion of Giving. 

2. What can we give to God? Something of 
our time, of our labor or our money; besides 
worship and thanksgiving. 

3. What has been observed of the injunctions 
about Giving in the Bible? That for every 
text which speaks of Prayer three can be shown 
for Giving. 

4. Quote some words of the Lord Jesus. 
"It is more blessed to give than to receive/' 
[Acts xx: 35J. 

5. Name three reasons why the believer 
should be ready to contribute of his means to 
God— First? Because God has committed the 
extension and maintenance of His Kingdom to 
human hands. 

6. Secondly? Because nothing proves so 
much faith and trust in God as to part with our 
means; therefore, it wins the blessings promised 
to faith. 

7. Thirdly? Because the Saviour said that 
what we do unto the poor or afflicted we do 
unto Him. 

8. Quote the words to be spoken at the Judg- 



36 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



ment to such ones. "Inasmuch as ye have 
done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye 
have done it unto me." 

9. What is said of the measure and rewards 
of Giving? "He that soweth little shall reap 
little, and he that soweth plenteously shall reap 
plenteously. " 

10. What two methods of Giving are sug- 
gested in Holy Scripture? The tenth or tithe 
of the Jews; and St. Paul's method. 

11. What method of Giving does St. Paul re- 
commend? The laying by something every 
week, as God has prospered us.. [I. Cor. xvi: 

2]. 

12. State a simple rule for one's guidance in 
giving money to the cause of Christ? To give 
at least as much as you would spend on luxu- 
ries. 

13. Who gives us health and strength daily, 
by which to work and make money? The 
Lord. 

14. Who gives fair weather, rain and sun- 
shine, through which alone crops can be raised? 
The Lord. 

15. What was the proportion given to the 
Lord by His people of old? One-tenth. [Lev. 

xxvii: 30]. 

16. What does Jacob say in Genesis xxii: 



WORSHIP. 



87 



22? "Of all that Thou shalt give me I will 
surely give the tenth unto Thee. M 

17. Mention a way practised by many Chris- 
tians in carrying out these plans. To keep a 
separate drawer or purse in which to "lay by" 
God's portion. 

18. How would you use the contents of this 
purse? For all religious or charitable calls. 

19. What does God say about sending special 
earthly blessings on those who do their part to 
honor Him? He says, "Prove Me now," i. e., 
make the experiment; and you will find that it 
is so. [Mai. iii : 10]. 



LESSON XXXIV.— WORSHIP. 

Exercise. Find the Exhortation, and the Prayer of 
St. Chrysostom ; the Institution Office, and Consecra- 
tion of a Church or Chapel. 

1. For what purpose mainly should Chris- 
tians go to Church? To render homage to 
Almighty God. 

2. What mistaken idea is very common? 
That they go to hear a sermon. 

3. Where does the Prayer Book state the ob- 
ject of attendance at service? In the Exhorta- 
tion. 

4. State the first reason, according to the 



ss 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



Exhortation. To confess our sins humbly and 
penitently before our Father in Heaven. 

5. What do you mean by the General Con- 
fession which begins the service? A confession 
to be used by all. 

6. Can any one afford to dispense with con- 
fessing his or her sins to God? No. 

7. What is the second object in going to 
Church? To render thanks for the great bene- 
fits that we have received at His hands. 

8. Give examples of what we have received. 
Our preservation from accident, our health, 
friends, food and raiment. 

9. But above all for what ? For Redemption ; 
for the means of grace, and the hope of glory. 

10. What is the third reason? "To set forth 
His most worthy Praise/' 

11. What is another name for Praise? Wor- 
ship. 

12. Where in the Prayer Book do we find il- 
lustrations of pure Worship? In the Ter Sanc- 
tus, the Gloria tn Excelsis, and Gloria Patri. 

13. What does it say fourthly? "To hear 
His most Holy Word," t. e., readings and in- 
struction from it. 

14. And fifthly? ''Toask those things which 
are requisite and necessary, as well for the 
body as the soul," L e., for Prayer. 



WORSHIP. 



8 9 



15. What can be said of these five things? 
That these are the things men really need. 
They are food for the soul. 

16. Are not the .Church below and the Heav- 
enly Host Above in reality parts of the same 
Kingdom ? They are. 

17. What does St. Paul say about God's being 
the Father of both? "Of Whom the whole 
family in Heaven and earth is named." 

18. Does it not then seem natural that they 
should all worship God after the same manner? 
It does. 

19. Quote from the Communion Service. 
"Therefore with angels and archangels and all 
the company of Heaven, we laud and magnify 
Thy glorious name, evermore praising Thee and 
saying, Holy, Holy, Holy!" 

20. When "a door was opened in Heaven," 
what did the Apostle John chiefly behold there- 
in? Worship. 

21. Can you quote what Benjamin Franklin 
wrote to his daughter? 4 4 Go constantly to 
Church, whoever preaches. The act of devotion 
in the Common Prayer Book is your principal 
business there, and if properly attended to will 
do more toward amending the heart than 
sermons." . 



90 VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 

LESSON XXXV.— FAMILY WORSHIP. AND 
SPONSORSHIP. 

Exercise. Find the Penitential Office for Ash We 
nesday. 

1. If we give a portion of our time to God 
what will He do? He will bless what remains. 

2. Mention an instance of time-giving to the 
Lord. To have daily Family worship. 

3. What may be said of Family prayer or 
worship? It sanctifies the coming day, keeps 
us with God's peace through the coming night, 
and blesses the whole house. 

4. What excuse is frequently urged for the 
neglect of this duty? That the whole family 
cannot be assembled. 

5. Show the fallacy of this reply. Family 
prayers are addressed to Almighty God; they 
are not held for the instruction of the family. 

6. Quote the noble words of Joshua. " As 
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 
[Josh, xxiv: 15]. 

7. What is the modern improvement upon 
Joshua? To leave children to grow up to 
choose for themselves; or with nothing save the 
chance of some possible ' 'revival" / between 
them and destruction. 

8. What does this argue on the part of 
parents? Cruelty, cowardice and unwisdom. 



FAMILY WORSHIP AMD SPONSORSHIP. 



91 



9. May not the head of the house speak as 
representative of the household before God? 
Yes. 

10. What instance have we in Scripture? 
The case of Job offering for his absent sons. 
[Jobi: 5 J- 

11. Did not Abraham stand for Isaac in the 
position of a sponsor when the child was ad- 
mitted into God's Covenant? Yes. 

12. Does it not seem that Lydia's faith and 
obedience stood before God for the acceptance 
of her household, when they were baptized; 
and the same in the case of the Philippian 
jailer's house? Yes. [Acts xvi: 15, 31]. 

13. In the case of sponsors to-day, how long 
do their faith and obedience stand for the child ? 
Until he is old enough to take it upon himself, 
whether he does so or not. 

14. What great truth may we remember in 
regard to feeling the loss of time, money, etc*, 
that one gives to God? That though we may 
feel the loss we shall never feel the need of 
what we give, be it strength, time or money. 

15. Why shall we never feel the need or lack 
of anything we give to God? Because He has 
promised to "add" unto us if we hoDor Him, 
i. e., to increase our supply. 

16. Five times repeated in the Gospel we find 



02 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



the following words of Christ, He that saveth 
his life (or soul) shall lose it, and he that loseth 
his life (or soul) for My sake shall find it, or 
keep it. What is this directed against ? Against 
anxiety about our own salvation. He Who 
has made us and preserves us from day to day, 
will certainly save our souls, should they be 
worth it. Let us leave the Future to God, and 
simply do our duty here. 



LESSON XXXVI. — SEEKING FIRST THE KING- 
DOM. 

Exercise. Find in your Prayer Book the Service for 
Thanksgiving Day. Find the Collect, Epistle and 
Gospel, with I. and II. Lessons, for the occasion. 

1. How must we as Christians regard the re- 
sults of our worldly toil, business or enter- 
prise? As God's blessing upon our labors. 

2. Where is this very strongly taught? In 
Deuteronomy, viii: 17, 18. 

3. What great hymn in the Old Testament 
speaks of Jehovah as the provider for the needs 
of all His creatures? The 104th Psalm. 

4. What do we read, as the words of Jehovah, 
in the Book of Samuel? "Them that honour 
Me I will honour." [I. Sam. ii: 30]. 

5. What did David give as the result of his 
experience? "I have been young and now am 



SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM. 



93 



old, yet never saw I the righteous forsaken, or 
his seed begging their bread. " [Ps. xxxvii : 25]. 

6. Now if these old temporal promises made 
to the Hebrews were not intended to hold true 
for the Christian Church, what would our Sav- 
iour doubtless have done? He would have ab- 
rogated or blotted them out. 

7. On the contrary, what did He say? That 
He was not come to destroy the Law and the 
Prophets, but to fulfill, i. e. % to enlarge or ex- 
tend their scope. 

8. How, moreover, did He add the same idea 
in still more powerful words? He said, "Seek 
ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and His right- 
eousness, and all these things [food, raiment, 
etc.] shall be added unto you." [St. Matt, vi: 
33; St. Luke xii: 31]. 

9. What is St. Paul's comment on Christ's 
words? Godliness has the promise of the life 
that now is, and of that which is to come. [I. 
Tim. iv: 8]. 

10. How would you paraphrase this noble 
text of the Gospel? We must put Duty to God 
first; our own business or pleasure second. 

11. What is this, in fact? It is the Divine 
remedy or safeguard against the destruction of 
our souls by riches. 

12. What Parable among others shows us the 



94 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



danger of riches? The Parable of Dives and 
Lazarus. [St. Lukexvi: 19 J. 

13. Are riches wrong in themselves? No; 
they are one of the greatest of the Talents en- 
trusted by the Lord to man. 

14. What is the danger to the soul or charac- 
ter arising from the abuse of riches? Selfish- 
ness, worldliness, ungodliness, neglect. 

15. What besides may be said of this princi- 
ple of putting the Lord and our duty to Him in 
the first place? It is the road to happiness and 
earthly comfort for all. (Believe it and make 
the experiment). 

16. Give one of the examples in Scripture 
written for our learning in this matter. The 
story of the widow of Sarepta, in the 
famine. 

17. Of what does St. James remind us? 
That every good gift and every perfect gift is 
from Above, and cometh down from the Father 
of Lights. [St. Jas. i: 17 J. 

18. Do not God's words in the Bible refer us 
to experience, i. e., invite us to make the ex- 
periment or test of trusting and serving Him, 
then watching for results? Yes. "Prove Me 
now herewith, said the Lord,*' etc. [Mai. iii: 

10] 

19. How does it happen we often fail to re- 



CONFESSION, PROFESSION AND NONPROFESSORSHIP. 95 

ceive God's blessings? We lack the faith to 
make the attempt of thoroughly serving Him. 

20. What is noticeable as we read of Christ 
and His Apostles? That they seldom or never 
worked a miracle upon incredulous persons. 

21. Showing the necessity of what before- 
hand ? Belief or faith. 



LESSON XXXVIL— CONFESSION, PROFESSION 
AND NONPROFESSORSHIP. 

Exercise. Find Prayer for all sorts and conditions 
of man; Collect for Ash Wednesday, and Confession 
for Ash Wednesday. 

1. What common tendency appears in modern 
Religion? To put Profession in the place oc- 
cupied in the Bible by Confession. 

2. In which Parable of our Lord are Profes- 
sion and Confession, with their respective 
values in God's sight, brought before us? In 
the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax-col- 
lector. [St. Luke xviii: 10, etc.]. 

3. What did the Pharisee profess before God ? 
"God, I thank Thee that I am not as other 
men are. " 

4. What did the other man confess? "God, 
be merciful unto me a sinner. " 

5. What did the Master say of this man? "I 



9 6 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



tell you, this man went down to his house jus- 
tified rather than the other." 

6. Quote some words that have been written 
on the subject. "What is a 'professing Chris- 
tian'? He is a species .... utterly 
ignored by Christ and His Apostles in the 
formation of the early Church. He is of no 

benefit to the Church to-day 

Profession has nothing to do with true Chris- 
tianity. We want, not profession, but confes- 
sion. "* 

7. To what sin does public profession often 
minister? To spiritual pride. 

8. In becoming a member of Christ's Body 
the Church, do you profess yourself better than 
others outside the Church? No. 

9. Do you profess yourself to have reached 
a high spiritual plane? No. 

10. Do you even profess yourself better than 
you were before? No. 

11. Do we enter a school because we are 
learned? No. . 

12. Do we enter a hospital because we are 
sound? No; but the opposite. 

13. What is it to enter the Church — First? 
A confession of weakness and need of help. 

* Rev. Geo. H. Hubbard. 



CONFESSION, PROFESSION AND NONPROFESSORSHlP. 97 



14. What else is it — secondly? An acknowl- 
edgment of allegiance to Christ. 

15. Quote some of His words on this point. 
11 Whosoever shall confess Me before men him 
will I also confess before the angels of God." 
[St. Matt, x: 32; St. Luke xii: 8]. 

16. What did St. Paul say of himself and his 
own progress in holiness? He says, "Not as 
though I had already attained or were already 
perfect .... but I follow after. " [Phil, 
iii: 12]. 

17. What, thirdly, is it to enter the Church? 
To obey a plain command and wish of Jesus 
Christ. 

18. Can those who live in a Christian land 
justify a position outside the Kingdom of God, 
and disobedience to its plain commands ? They 
cannot. 

19. Why not? Because God has made no ex- 
ceptions save to the invincibly ignorant. 

20. Would a man who had broken the Laws 
of the United States be acquitted because he 
did not admit his responsibility to those Laws? 
He would not. 

21. What did St Paul say at Athens? "The 
times of this [past] ignorance God overlooked, 
but now commandeth all men everywhere to 
repent, because He hath appointed a day in 



9 3 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



which He will judge the world." [Acts xvii: [ 

22. What else is taught? " We must all ap- j 
pear before the Judgment seat of Christ." 
[Rom. xiv: 10]. 

LESSON XXXVIII. —BELIEF AND UNBELIEF. 

Exercise. Find Collect for Trinity Sunday. Find 

the Jubilate, Magnificat \ Nunc Dimittis and Te 
Deum; and state where each is used. 

1. In what age or dispensation are we at 
present living? In the Dispensation of Faith. 

2. Give a definition of faith. "Faith is the 
confidence of things hoped for, the conviction 
of things not seen. " [Hebrews xi: ij. 

3. What would you say of a true religion ? 
That it must be mysterious. 

4. What is said in Hebrews of the faith of 
Moses? "He endured, as seeing Him who is 
invisible." [Heb. xi; 27]. 

5. What does St. Paul write? "Now we see 
through a glass darkly. " [I. Cor. xiii: 12]. 

6. Another text to show that Scripture re- 
cognizes this trial? "The trial of your faith." 
[I. Peter i: 7]. 

7. Quote from Jeremy Taylor? "Faith is 
the sacrifice of the understanding ; obedience 
is the sacrifice of the will." 



BELIEF AND UNBELIEF. 



99 



8. What was the first entrance of Doubt into 
this world ? When Satan in Eden said to the 
woman, 44 Ye shall not surely die. 99 [Gen. iii: 

4 

9. By what are men often deceived? By the 
regularity of God's workings. 

10. To what is the present lack or disturb- 
ance of faith sometimes traceable? To the 
wonderful increase (through science) of our 
knowledge of secondary causes.* 

n. What do you mean by secondary causes? 
The machinery employed by God in bringing 
about results in the Universe. 

12. What did David write? "The fool hath 
said in his heart there is no God. M [Ps. xiv: 
1 ; liii : 2]. 

13. Name the greatest of Christ's miracles, 
and the one upon which the whole of His claims 
depend ? His resurrection from the dead. 

14. What was the chief subject on which in 
the Acts of the Apostles the disciples preached? 
Their Master's resurrection. 

15. What may be said of the Resurrection? 
4 1 There is more evidence of the Resurrection 
of Jesus Christ than for any other single event 
in the history of mankind, "f 



Bishop Brooks, f Bishop Dudley. 



IOO 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



16. What great light was thrown practically 
upon this subject of Belief by the Lord Jesus 
Christ? He said, "If any man will do God's 
will, he shall know of the doctrine." [St. John 
vii: 17]. 

17. How did He express the same truth in 
the Sermon on the Mount? "Blessed are the 
pure in heart, for they shall see God." 

18. Give the principle contained in these 
words. Supernatural mysteries must first be 
believed, and then they will be better under- 
stood. 

19. On the contrary, what is the principle in 
the case of natural or worldly things? They 
are first understood, and then believed. 

20. Illustrate this. On a bright day, look at 
a fine stained glass window from outside the 
building; and afterward from within. What 
a difference there will be. 

21. What did Bacon write? "When the soul 
resolves to perform every duty, immediately it 
is conscious of the presence of God." 

22. What would you say of the mystery of 
evil? It must remain for the present insoluble. 

23. Can anything be suggested? Either the 
presence of some inherent law of which nothing 
has been revealed ; or the giant power of Satan, 
coupled with his malignity towards the whole 



FAITH AND WORKS. 



IOI 



Creation of God, may account indirectly for 
some of it.* 



LESSON XXXIX.— FAITH AND WORKS. 
Exercise, 

1. What is the root of all obedience and good 
deeds in the service of God? Faith. 

2. What words can you quote from the Epis- 
tle to the Hebrews? " He that cometh to God 
must believe that He is (exists), and that He 
is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek 
Him." [xi: 6]. 

3. What, next after Faith, is the root of our 
service to God and man? Love. 

4. Quote a text. "God is not unrighteous 
that He will forget your works and love that 
proceedeth of love, which love ye have showed 
for His Name's sake. M [Heb. x: 10]. 

5. What do we know of the Love of God? 

* Possibly the latter part of the II. Commandment 
has something to do with the mystery of evil. The 
meaning of the last clause of that commandment 
should, however, be noted: "And show mercy unto 
thousands of generations in them that love Me, etc." 
[Deut. vii; 9.] 



102 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



"God so loved the world that He gave His 
only-begotten Son." [St. John iii: 16]. 

6. What kind of faith is commended of St. 
Paul? "The faith which worketh by love." 
[Gal. v: 6]. 

7. What comparison then can you make re- 
garding Faith and works? Faith is like the 
root of a tree, good works are like the fruit of it. 

8. What did our Saviour say of men's lives and 
characters? He said, "By their fruits ye shall 
know them." [St. Matt, vii: 20]. 

9. Quote from St. John Baptist. "Every 
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn 
down and cast into the fire." 

10. What other comparison can you make, 
regarding Faith in another aspect? Faith and 
Works must go together, like the two oars of a 
boat. 

11. What progress will be made by a boa 
rowed with one oar alone? None whatever. 

12. What does St. James say? "Faith with 
out works is dead. " [St. Jas. ii: 20, 26J. 

13. By what will men be judged at the bar o 
God? Every man according to his works. [Rev 
xx:i3]. 

14. What is said in Scripture of a bare belie 
or faith? "The devils also believe, and trem 
ble." [St. James ii: 19]. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 



I03 



15. Quote a verse showing that God takes 
count of our deeds. "Be not deceived, God is 
not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, 
that shall he also reap. " [Gal. vi: 7 J. 

16. Again? "Let us not be weary in well 
doing, for in due season we shall reap if we 
faint not." 

17. Do we enter Heaven for the sake of any 
good in our own deeds or characters? No. 
[See Lesson LIV., question 2]. 

18. What may be observed upon the sin of 
doing nothing? It was for this that the rich 
man in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus was 
condemned. [St. Lukexvi: 19, etc. J. 

19. Again? It was for this that the man 
with the one talent (who might have been as 
highly commended as the others) was con- 
demned. [St. Matt, xxv : 14, etc. J. 

20. Again? The barren fig tree is com- 
manded to be cut down. [St. Lukexiii:6, 
etc. J. 

21. Again? This is the ground of condem- 
nation for those on the left hand, at the Day of 
Judgment. [St. Matt, xxv: 45]. 

22. In reference to wliat sin were the famous 
"arid ""terrible" words- spoken, " Be sure your sin 
"wiirfind you out' ' ? [Num. xxxii: 23}. To the 
sin of doing nothing. 



io4 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



LESSON XL.— CONVERSION OR REPENTANCE. 

Exercise. Find references to Christ's Passion in the 
Litany. Find the Burial Office, and Family Prayers. 

1. What is the difference between Conversion 
and Regeneration? Conversion may occur 
many times in a person's life; Regeneration 
only once. 

2. What is the literal and Bible meaning of 
Conversion ? A turning round. 

3. Give an example from the Bible. The 
Prodigal Son. 

4. Give an every-day illustration. A trav- 
eler realizes that he has taken the wrong road 
at a fork. He retraces his steps and follows 
the other. 

5. What should be a distinguishing mark of 
the act of Conversion ? Coolness and delibera- 
tion. 

6. What is Conversion called in the Epistle 
to Titus? 4 4 The renewing of the Holy Ghost/* 
[Titus iii: 5]. 

7. How often do we need converting? As 
often as we sin. 

8. Converted from what? From the world 
and its standards, to our Christian duty. 

9. To what can Conversion or Repentance 
be likened? To a continual steering of the 
ship into line. 



CONVERSION OR REPENTANCE. 



I05 



10. What is it that is causing the ship to 
veer from its course ? The blasts of temptation. 

11. What does the Greek word translated 
Repentance literally mean ? It means a change 
of mind about a thing — and so, of purpose and 
will. 

12. What Collect in Prayer Book speaks of 
Conversion or Repentance? The Collect for 
Ash Wednesday. 

13. Is not Conversion, in the Bible, carefully 
distinguished from Regeneration as a different 
thing? Yes. 

14. Quote a verse where St. Paul names the 
two together. He speaks of God's saving us 
' \ by the washing of Regeneration, and the re- 
newing of the Holy Ghcst. 99 [Titus iii: 5]. 

1 5. What is the difference between these two ? 
Regeneration is given once for all, at Baptism ; 
Conversion may be needed many times. 

16. Why does a child that has been piously 
trained by its parents not need converting? 
Because it has no evil life from which to turn, 
or be converted. 

17. To whom was Christ speaking when He 
said, "Except ye be converted and become like 
little children ye cannot enter into the King- 
dom of Heaven?" To the proud and hardened 
Pharisees and others. 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



18. What should be the object of God's chil- 
dren? To strive so to live as not to need con- 
verting. 

19. What instances does Holy Scripture pre- 
sent of children thus trained so as never to 
need converting? Samuel and St. John the 
Baptist. 

20. Quote part of the Confirmation Service. 
"Defend, O Lord, this Thy child, that he may 
continue Thine forever, and daily increase in 
Thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come 
unto Thy everlasting Kingdom." 



LESSON XLL— REGENERATION OR ELECTION. 

Exercise. What are the I. and II. Lessons, Morning 
and Evening, for Trinity Sunday, for St. Thomas' 
Day, and for May 2nd? 

1. What does Regeneration imply ? A change 
in our position toward God. 

2. What does Regeneration or the New Birth 
do for us? It places us in the immediate 
family of God. 

3. What may unfortunately happen after- 
wards, owing to man's free will? We may 
abuse that privilege, like the Prodigal. 

4. What is this to be? An unworthy child. 

5. When does Regeneration take place? In 
Baptism. 



REGENERATION OR ELECTION. 



I07 



6. What texts can you quote? St. Paul's 
letter to Titus speaks of "the washing (or 
laver) of Regeneration." Our Lord in talking 
with Nicodemus connects Regeneration with 
Baptism. [St. John iii: 1, etc.]. 

7. To what may Regeneration be compared? 
To the naturalization of a foreigner as an 
American citizen. 

8. How does this apply to the followers ef 
Jesus Christ? Into a new kingdom they are 
"born again," with new privileges and respon- 
sibilities. 

9. What must a foreigner renounce when he 
accepts citizenship in the United States? All 
foreign allegiance. 

10. What do we promise to renounce in 
Baptism? "The Devil and all his works, the 
pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and 
all the sinful lusts of the flesh. " 

11. Is it sufficient for a man to be outwardly 
naturalized or sworn in as an American citizen ? 
No; he must also observe the laws of the Gov- 
ernment; in other words, live as a good citizen. 

12. What does St. Paul say in the Epistle to 
the Church at Colosse? That "God hath de- 
livered us from the power of darkness, and 
translated us into the Kingdom of His dear 
Son." [Col. i: 13]. 



io8 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



13. Who may be termed the elect, the called, 
the choben ? The baptized. 

14. What is the duty of the called ? To walk 
worthy of their vocation. 

15. Otherwise, what will happen? They 
will be finally xejected. 

16. Whom can you mention from Holy 
Scripture whose election did not profit them ? 
King Saul, Balaam, Judas, Demas, Ananias 
and Sapphira. 

17. In the Parable of Christ, St. Matt, xii., 
to what did acceptance of the invitation on the 
part of the guests correspond? To Regenera- 
tion, or entering the Church by Baptism. 

18. What was done with the man who had 
not on a wedding garment ? He was cast out 
again. 

19. What did the wedding garment most 
probably signify? Conversion, or fitness for 
Heaven. 



LESSON XLII. — CHARITY AND BROTHER- 
HOOD. 

Exercise. Find Collect for Quinquagesima Sunday; 
the Gospel for All Saints' Day ; the Benedicite and 
Gloria in Excel sis. 

1. What picture of Charity or love to others 
did our Lord draw in the Gospel ? The Para- 



CHARITY AND BROTHERHOOD. 



109 



ble of the Good Samaritan. [St. Luke x 130, 
etc.]. 

2. What picture did He draw of the love of 
God for man? The Parable of the Prodigal 
Son. [St. Luke xv: 11, etc.]. 

3. Who did He teach us is our neighbor or 
brother? Everybody. 

4. Why should His followers minister to the 
poor, the sick and the afflicted? These have 
been committed by our Master to the care of 
His Church. 

5. Quote His words. "Inasmuch as ye have 
done it to one of the least of these my brethren 
ye have done it unto Me." [St. Matt, xxv: 40]. 

6. What motto does St. Paul give? Support 
the weak. [I. Thess. v: 14; Acts xx: 35]. 

7. What is said of Charity or Love in I. Cor. 
xiii. ? That Charity "thinketh no evil. " 

8. What else? "Beareth all things." 

9. What else? "Hopeth all things. " 

10. What else? ' ' Believeth all things." 

11. How is Charity described in the Collect 
for Quinquagesima Sunday? 

12. Why are all men to be regarded as our 
brethren? Because all have the same nature 
and feelings as ourselves. 

13. In whose image are all men created? In 
the image of God. 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



14. What did St. Peter say? "Honour all 
men." [I. St. Peter ii: 17]. 

15. Beyond what must we look when we wish 
to behold our brother? Beyond the accidents 
of fortune or outward circumstances. 

16. What did our Saviour say? "A man's 
life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth. " [St. Luke xii: 
*5]- 

17. State a great truth made known by Jesus 
Christ? The Universal Fatherhood of God. 

18. What did he say of God? That "He 
maketh the sun rise on the evil and on the good, 
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ' ' 
[St. Matt, v: 45]. 

19. What did St. Paul write? That in Christ 
Jesus, i. e., in His Kingdom, there is neither 
Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor 
free. [Col. iii: 11]. 

20. What is declared to be the first fruit of 
the Spirit? Love. 

21. Name the second? Joy. [Gal. v: 22]. 

22. Will you try to think of this during the 
week? I will try. 



PURITY AND HONESTY. 



Ill 



LESSON XLIII. — PURITY AND HONESTY. 

Exercise. Find in the Prayer Book, VII. and VIII. 
Commandment, and the Duty to thy Neighbour. 

1. What Commandment of Jehovah declares 
the necessity of Purity, if we wish to be His 
people? The Seventh. 

2. What is said of Purity in Christ's vSermon 
on the Mount? "Blessed are the pure in 
heart, for they shall see God." [St. Matt, 
v: 8]. 

3. Who is the hero of steadfastness and Pur- 
ity in the Old Testament? Joseph. 

4. What is said in the Bible of fornicators, 
adulterers and drunkards? That they shall 
not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. [I. Cor. 
vi: 9, toJ. 

5. How does the Catechism explain the VII. 
Commandment? To keep my body in sober- 
ness, temperance and chastity. 

6. Against what must we watch and guard? 
Against evil thoughts. 

7. What else? We must pray for grace or 
help. 

8. Quote the Collect for the Eighteenth Sun- 
day after Trinity. 

9. What did our Lord say to the woman 
taken in adultery? Go and sin no more. [St. 
John viii: 11]. 



112 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



10. Where is expressed God's demand for 
Honesty? In the VIII. Commandment. 

1 1. What are the only lawful and honest ways 
of obtaining a thing? Working for it, or re- 
ceiving it as a gift. 

12. What would you say of gambling? That 
it is dishonest and comes under the head of 
stealing; and that what a man wins by gam- 
bling does not belong to him. 

13. What terrible warning have we in the 
Old Testament against the sin of stealing? 
The story of Achan. [Joshua vii.]. 

14. Another? The story of Gehazi. [II. 
Kings iv.]. 

15. What warning have we against covetous- 
ness? The story of Balaam. [Numbers xxii.]. 

16. What was the end of Balaam? He was 
slain in battle fighting among the enemies of 
the Lord. 

17. Against what should Christian men and 
women sternly set their faces? Against the 
tricks of trade; adulteration or misrepresenta- 
tion of goods. 

18. What does St. Paul say about stealing ? 
"Let him that stole steal no more, but rather 
let him labour, working with his hands, that he 
may have to give to him that needeth. M [Eph. 
iv: 28]. 



REVERENCE AND HUMILITY. 



"3 



19. What did Zaccheus on his conversion 
from covetousness and dishonesty stand forth 
and declare? Lord, from this time forth, I 
hereby give, or dedicate, the half of my goods 
unto the poor; and if I have done any wrong 
to any man, I restore four-fold. [St. Luke 
xix: 8]. 

20. What does the Word of God declare? "A 
false balance is an abomination to the Lord." 
[Prov. xi: 1 ; xx: 23]. 

21. What does it say of a good name? "A 
good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches. " [Prov. xxii: 1]. 



LESSON XLIV.— REVERENCE AND HUMILITY. 

Exercise. Find the Duty towards God. Find the 
VIII. and CIV. Psalms. Find the places for Morning 
service, in their order. 

1. What is calculated to inspire us with awe 
and reverence toward God ? The vastness of 
Creation, disclosed by Science in modern times. 

2. What may be said of the Created Universe ? 
It appears to be without limit. 

3. What did the ancients believe? They 
thought our earth was the centre of all things, 
instead of being, as it is, one small unit among 
a countless host of worlds. 



114 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



4. How many stars does the Lick telescope 
reveal? About a hundred millions. 

5. Are these the bounds of the Universe? 
No; for every increase in the power of the tel- 
escope discloses multitudes beyond them. 

6. Give an illustration of the scale upon 
which the Universe is built. Light travels 
200,000 miles per second. There are stars (of 
the 9th magnitude) whose light in crossing 
space to reach us occupies 586 years, traveling 
at the above rate. 

7. How must man appear in the sight of his 
Creator? As the tiniest ant or other insect, 
crawling upon a leaf, appears to man. 

8. What does David exclaim, in view of the 
starry Heavens? "Lord, what is man that 
Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man 
that Thou visitest him?' ' [Ps. viii: 4]. 

9. Quote a verse from Ecclesiastes. 4 4 God is 
in Heaven and thou upon earth; therefore, let 
thy words be few." [Ecc. v: 2]. 

10. Where should especial reverence be ob- 
served? In the House of God. [Lev. xix : 30]. 

11. What is said in the Bible about Pride? 
"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty # 
spirit before a fall." [Prov. xvi: 18; St. Matt, 
xxvi: 69-75; St. Luke xxii: 33]. 

12. Quote some words of our Lord's. 4 'Who- 



REVERENCE AND HUMILITY. 



H5 



soever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he 
that humbleth himself shall be exalted." [St. 
Luke xiv: n]. 

13. What can we say of the Heavenly bodies 
we see around us night by night? They are 
the same stars which God pointed out to Abra- 
ham; this same moon looked down upon the 
Israelites in the wilderness. 

14. In which book of the Old Testament are 
some of these stars mentioned by name? The 
Book of Job. [Job ix: 9; xxxviii: 31]. 

15. What lesson of faith and trust should be 
learnt from the spectacle of the starry skies? 
The Power that called them all into being, and 
keeps them each in its place, is pledged to care 
for us. 

16*. Upon what condition? That we strive to 
obsy His will. 

17. Repeat a verse of the Psalms. " I will 
lay me down in peace and take my rest, for it 
is Thou, Lord, that makest me to dwell in 
safety." [Ps. iv: 8]. 

18. In which Epistle do we find an Apostle, 
speaking from sad experience, frequently ex- 
horting to soberness and humility? In the I. 
Epistle of St. Peter. 



n6 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



LESSON XLV. — INDUSTRY AND OBEDIENCE. 

Exercise, Find the Shorter Exhortation m the Com- 
munion Service ; and the Collect for St. Michael and 
All Angels' Day. 

1. What portion of our Lord's life most 
closely corresponds to our own daily lot? The 
first thirty years of His life spent at Nazareth. 

2. How were these years of His retirement 
occupied? He served God, was subject to His 
earthly guardians, and worked at a trade. 

3. What was St. Paul's trade? He was a 
tent maker. [ Acts xviii: 3 J. 

4. What remark do we frequently hear from 
busy persons ? "I have no time for Religion. ' ' 

5. Can the Lord appoint two things for us 
which are contrary to each other? No. 

6. What would you say then of our cfailv 
business and a God-serving life? The two do 
not conflict; they are intended to go together. 

7. Quote a verse from Keble's "Christian 
Year." 

" The trivial round, the common task 
Will furnish all we need to ask, 
Room to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us daily nearer God." 

8. What do we read in the Epistle to the 
Romans? "Not slothful in business, fervent in 
spirit, serving the Lord." [Rom. xii: 11]. 



INDUSTRY AND OBEDIENCE. 



H7 



9. What is the road to success and prosperity 
in life? Industry and good habits, with God's 
blessing. 

10. What is true of us when we are usefully 
employed ? We escape many of Satan's snares. 

11. Illustrate from the life of the first King 
of Israel the need of strict Obedience to God's 
commands. One day Saul would not wait for 
Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice, though 
ordered to do so, but offered it himself. When 
Samuel came he said to Saul from God, 4 4 Thou 
hast done foolishly," and the Kingdom was 
taken from him. [I. Sam. xiii: 13 J. 

12. Relate another instance from Saul's life. 
He was sent to utterly destroy the Amalekites 
and all that they had. But he spared the best 
of the flocks, excusing himself with the plea 
that he had kept them for s; crifice to the Lord. 

13. What was the memorable reply? "Hath 
the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings 
and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the 
Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, 
and to hearken than the fat of rams. [I. Sam. 
xv: 22]. 

14. Who did our Saviour declare to be His 
brethren and sisters and mother? Whosoever 
should do the wall of His Father in Heaven. 
[St. Matt, xii: 50J. 



ITS 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



15. In what terms did He explain the seed 
which brought forth a hundred-fold? "They 
which having heard the Word keep it, and 
bring forth fruit with patience." [St. Luke 
viii: 15J 

16. What did He once reply when a certain 
woman lifted up her voice to praise the blessed- 
ness of being His earthly mother ?" He said, 
"Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the 
word of God and keep it. " [St. Luke, xi: 28]. 



LESSON XL VI. — FORGIVENESS AND GRATI- 
TUDE. 

Exercise. Find the General Thanksgiving ; Prayer 
for Persons Going to Sea ; and Prayer for the General 
Convention. 

1. In what ways do we sin against the Al- 
mighty Father? By breaking His Command- 
ments in thought, word or deed. 

2. In w r hat way do we sin against man? By 
slandering him, by taking his property, or in- 
juring his person. 

3. What seeps must we take after sin, before 
the forgiveness of Heaven can be secured:* 
Confession or Acknowledgment; Restitution, 
when possible; Amendment of life. 

4. Notice Jonah's repentance. W T hen the 
great storm was raging around the ship, he 



FORGIVENESS AND GRATITUDE. 



119 



said to the mariners, 14 Take me up and cast me 
forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto 
you; for I know that for my sake this great 
tempest is upon you." [Jonah i: 12]: 

5. Notice the repentance of Joseph's brethren. 
They exclaimed, "We verily are guilty concern- 
ing our brother. " [Gen. xlii: 21]. 

6. What did they do? When the cup was 
found in Benjamin's sack they returned with 
him as prisoners to the city, though perfectly 
free to pursue their journey. [Gen. xliv: 13 J. 
[See also Lesson XLIII: 19]. 

7. What does the Declaration of Absolution 
in the Prayer Book say of God? "He par- 
doneth and absolveth all those who truly re- 
pent, and unfeignedly believe His Holy Gos- 
pel. 

9. Quote the w r ords of Christ as to our for- 
giveness of others. "If ye forgive men their 
trespasses your Heavenly Father will forgive 
you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses 
neither will your Heavenly Father forgive 
you." [St. Matt, vi: 15]. 

10. If we do not forgive others, what do we 
virtually ask of God whenever we use the 
Lord's Prayer? Forgive not me! 

11. Before partaking of what holy ordinance 
in particular are we to examine whether we be 



120 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



in charity with all men^ Before the Holy 
Communion. 

12. When a man's old debts are cancelled, 
and he knows they are no longer hanging over 
him, what does he feel? The sense of Grati- 
tude. 

13. What should be the motive of our Chris- 
tian service? Gratitude. 

14. Where is this motive referred to? In 
the General Thanksgiving. 

15. What Gospel incident illustrates the feel- 
ing of Christ toward Thankfulness in man? 
The story of the cleansing of the ten lepers. 
[St. Lukexvii: 11, etc.]. 

16. Mention some ways of showing our grat- 
itude. By letting our light shine. 

17. How else? When God's day comes 
round we shall always attend in His House 
the services held in His honor, and join heart- 
ily in the responses. 

18. What great comfort and blessing does 
Christianity furnish ? Pardon and peace as to 
the past, and fearlessness as to the future. 



THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



121 



LESSON XLVIL— THE HOLY CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

Exercise. Find the Te Deum, the Gloria inExcelsis 
and Ter Sanctus or Trisagion. 

1. When a person abandons denominational 
exclusiveness, but holds on firmly to the Apos- 
tolic Creeds, where does he find himself? In 
the Holy Catholic Church. 

2. What may be said of the Apostles' Creed ? 
That this alone, with Baptism, renders you a 
member of the Holy Catholic Church. 

3. What does the word Catholic mean ? The 
opposite of sectarian or local. 

4. Why does the Apostles* Creed appear in 
the singular, instead of the plural like the rest 
of the Church Service? Because it was origi- 
nally drawn up for the use of candidates in 
Baptism. 

5. Why in Baptism? That they might in 
convenient form express their belief in the 
leading facts of the Gospel. 

6. Another name for the Church of the Creed ? 
The Historic Church. 

7. When was the first General Council of the 
undivided Catholic Church held? At Nice, in 
325. 

8. How many persons are said to have at- 
tended this Council ? More than two thousand. 



122 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



9. How many Bishops were present besides 
other delegates? Three hundred and eighteen 
Bishops, from all parts of the known world. 

10. What Creed was drawn up at this Coun- 
cil? The Nicene Creed, except the last part of 
it. 

11. Describe the rapid progress of this 
Church. In less than 300 years from the Day 
of Pentecost it had extended into all known 
lands, and had become the acknowledged, offi- 
cial Faith of the great Roman Empire. 

12. Was this Church you speak of the Roman 
Catholic Church? No. The Church in Rome 
at ihis time ranked on equal terms with that in 
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Great re- 
spect was held for Rome as the leading city of 
the world politically. Its Church, however, at 
this time (325) claimed no supreme honor over 
that in other cities, and did not receive it. 

13. Should we not think it enough to believe 
and practise what the Church of the first three 
centuries after Christ observed? Yes. 

14. Its Belief being the Apostolic Creeds, 
mention some of the practices of that Body. 
The observance of Infant Baptism, Confirma- 
tion, with the three orders of the ministry; the 
use of Liturgies and the Christian Year. 

15. Between what does the Catholic Church 



THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



123 



distinguish? She distinguishes between Faith 
and Opinion. 

16. In regard to Opinion, are there not many 
minor matters touched on in the Scriptures? 
There are. 

17. Moreover, are there not many questions 
left undecided or open in Holy Scripture? 
There are. 

18. In what manner does the Bible refer to 
them? Indirectly, or by the way. 

.19. What does the Church do with these mat- 
ters — how have they been classed? Under the 
head of Opinion, assent to which is not de- 
manded in Baptism. 

20. How on the contrary does the Bible speak 
of the great cardinal facts or doctrines of the 
Gospel? These are delivered clearly. 

21. How does the Church class them? She 
has placed them in the Creeds — they comprise 
the Faith. 

22. Why should Christians beware of holding 
strong views or taking sides, on minor matters 
of Religion? Lest instead of Catholic Chris- 
tians they become sectarian. 



124 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



LESSON XL VIII.— THE REFORMATION. 

Exercise. Find the Exhortation, the General Con- 
fession, General Thanksgiving and Litany — all dating 
from the Reformation, 

1. To what must we look if we wish to 
understand the position of the different 
Churches and denominations? To the great 
Reformation in the 16th Century. 

2. What was the character of the Reforma- 
tion on the Continent of Europe? It was an 
ecclesiastical Revolution. 

3. What was the idea of these German, 
Swiss and French reformers on the Continent? 
To begin Christianity afresh. 

4. What was the Reformation in England ? 
It was an ecclesiastical Restoration. 

5. What did the English Reformers wish to 
do? To restore the Church to its primitive 
purity. 

6. Upon which of these two methods are the 
various denominations founded? Upon the 
Continental or Revolutionary method. 

7. To what did the Continental Reformers 
look for guidance, and with what result ? To 
Scripture alone, with many different results. 

8. By what principle were the English Re- 
formers guided ? To Scripture interpreted by 
early Christian practice. 



THE REFORMATION. 



125 



9. What did this leave the English Church ? 
A reformed Catholic Church. 

id. What is its proper name, and that of its 
daughter Churches? The Anglo-Catholic Com- 
munion. 

11. What then is the character of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church? Both a Protestant and 
a Catholic Church. 

12. What are the various denominations? 
Purely Protestant. 

13. Quote what Macaulay says of the English 
Reformation. "Between Papist and Protes- 
tant stands the true Catholic; and to make 
English Christians true Catholics as distin- 
guished from both Papists and Protestants, 
was the object of the English Reformation." 

14. What was the greatest error or misfor- 
tune of the Continental Reformers? To have 
broken the unity of Christendom. 

15. State what are the essentials of Protes- 
tantism. Freedom from the Pope's control, 
the free use of the Bible, and severance from 
modern Roman additions. 

16. Does the Episcopal Church possess all 
these essentials? It does. 

17. Did the Continental Reformers stop with 
obtaining these essentials? No; in their 
hatred of Rome they cast off other things that 



126 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



were held by her; viz., much that was Script- 
ural, primitive, useful and beautiful. 

1 8. What are the essentials of a Catholic 
Church ? The historic ministry of the Apostles' 
days, with the use of the Creeds, the Sacra- 
ments and the Holy Scriptures. 

19. Does the Episcopal Church of to-day 
possess all these? Yes. 

20. How did St. Jude speak of the Christian 
Faith? 4 4 The Faith once for all delivered to 
the saints." [St. Jude iii.] 

21. Did the reformation of a portion of the 
Historic Church destroy its identity as a true 
branch of the Catholic Church? No more than 
a man becomes a different person by washing 
his face, or recovery from sickness. 



LESSON XLIX.— APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION AND 
THE BREADTH OF THE CHURCH. 

Exercise. Find Jubilate, Benedictus, Magnificat, 
Nunc Dimittis and Te Deum; state where each is used. 

1. What do you mean by Apostolic Succes- 
sion? The fact that between present Bishops 
and the Apostles an unbroken line exists. 

2. What was the object of the Apostles in 
ordaining Matthias in the place of Judas? 
That he might be with them a witness of the 
Resurrection. 



APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION, ETC. 



127 



3. Why was the Resurrection of Christ so im- 
portant as to require a special witnessing body? 
Because it proved the God-head of Jesus Christ. 

4. What then? Everything promised or 
threatened by Him would come to pass. 

5. To what did they then appeal? To man's 
reason. 

6. Were not many other Christians witnesses 
to the truth of the Resurrection, besides the 
Apostles? Yes; but the Apostles were official 
witnesses. 

7. What of this official witnessing body? It 
was to pass down as an order, for a witness, to 
every age of the world. 

8. What did our Lord say to the original 
body? "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." 

9. Is it enough to belong to an Apostolic 
Church? No; we must also live Apostolic 
lives. 

10. What is a point to admire in the Episco- 
pal Church? Her breadth or comprehensive- 
ness. 

11. How can this be expressed? She teaches 
everything taught, holds everything held by all 
the Protestant Denominations. 

12. In what way? She holds all that the 
Methodist holds, and more. She holds all that 



128 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



the Baptist holds, and more. She holds all that 
the Unitarian holds, and more, etc. 

13. Name the three schools of thought within 
her Communion that aid and exemplify this 
breadth. The High Church, the Low Church 
and the Broad Church schools. 

14. Name the Gospel characteristics empha- 
sized by the High Church school. The histori- 
cal continuity of the Church, and the grace of 
the Sacraments. 

15. What is emphasized by the Low Church 
school? Justification by Faith, and the infalli- 
bility of Scripture. 

16. Upon what is most stress laid by the 
Broad Church school? On the pre-eminence 
of Holiness, Truth and Charity; and the 
need of recognizing the growth of knowl- 
edge.* 

17. To w r hat may these three aspects of 
Christian truth be compared? To the three 
equal sides of a prism. . 

18. What three sides compose the prism in 
this case? The sacramental, the subjective 
and the rationalistic sides of the Gospel. 

19. What does the Church teach and the Bible 
authorize us to believe, in regard to these three 

* F. W. Farrar, D. D. 



ANGLO-CATHOLICISM, ETC. 



I2§ 



views of truth? They are all true, and should 
be accepted by Christ's followers. 

20. What formal propositions for Christian 
unity were put forth by the united Anglo- 
Catholic Communion, in 1888? The Lambeth 
Articles.* 



LESSON L. — ANGLO-CATHOLICISM, ROMAN 
CATHOLICISM AND DENOMINATIONALISM. 

Exercise, Find Collect for Presentation of Christ in 
the Temple; the Prayer for All Conditions of Men, 
and all places in the day's service. 

1. On what grounds is the Anglo-Catholic or 
Episcopal Church opposed to Romanism? Be- 

* The four terms proposed were : 

(A) The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments, as " containing all things necessary to salva- 
tion," and as being the rule and ultimate standard 
of faith. 

(B) The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; 
and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of 
the Christian faith. 

(C) The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself 
— Baptism and the Supper of the Lord — ministered 
with unfailing use of Christ's words of Institution, 
and of the elements ordained by Him. 

(D) The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the 
methods of its administration to the varying needs of 
the nations and peoples called of God into the Unity 
of His Church. 



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VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



cause it has added to the Faith once for all de- 
livered to the saints. 

2. What has Romanism added to the Faith 
of Scripture and the early saints? Several 
novelties; among them, the Infallibility of the 
Bishop of Rome; the denial of the cup to the 
laity in the Holy Communion; compulsory 
confession to a priest, and undue exaltation of 
the blessed Virgin Mary. 

3. What may be said of all these? They are 
neither found in Scripture nor in early Church 
history. 

4. When was the Infallibility of the Pope 
promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church? 
At Easter, 1870. 

5. What would clearly appear from Scripture 
in regard to St. Peter? (1) That St. Peter was 
no higher in office than the other Apostles; and 
(2) that he did not found the Church in the 
city of Rome. 

6. Why did the various denominations leave 
the Anglo-Catholic Communion at the Reform- 
ation or since? Because the latter was content 
with the old Faith once for all delivered to the 
saints. 

7. What did they in several instances demand 
of their followers? Assent to minor matters, 
such as a particular mode of administering a 



ANGLO-CATHOLICISM. 



131 



sacrament, or particular views upon salvation, 
Scripture and other points. 

8. What other charge has the Anglo-Catholic 
Church against denominationalism ? It has 
broken the unity for which Christ prayed, and 
keeps breaking it, when there'is no need. 

9. To what does the Anglo-Catholic Church 
refer for the ground of her faith and prac- 
tices? To Scripture and History. 

10. Explain your meaning. We interpret 
Scripture when doubtful (as in the case of In- 
fant Baptism and the three orders of the minis- 
try) by early Christian views. These are 
gathered from the writings of the early Chris- 
tian fathers. 

11. To what does Rome refer for the ground 
of her belief and practices? To Scripture, late 
history and expediency. 

12. To what do the Christians of the various 
sects refer? To Scripture alone. 

13. What is the main difficulty in this course ? 
They cannot agree upon the meaning of the 
New Testament. 

14. What fiction has been devised by the 
modern Romanists to discredit the Church of 
England's orders? That it was founded by 
King Henry VIII. 

15. What would you remark on this report? 



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VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



Every intelligent man who has read the history 
of the period knows that there is no truth in it. 



LESSON LL— WHY I AM A CHURCHMAN.* 

Exercise. Find Collect for St. John Baptist's day, 
the Cantate Domino, and Deus Misereatur. 

1. On what grounds are you a Churchman? 
On the same grounds that I am a Christian. 

2. In other words? The same reasoning 
which proves Christianity proves the Church. 

3. To what did Christ commit the duty of 
making known His work and teaching to the 
world? To a society of men known as the 
Church. 

4. What w r ords did He use to them? "As 
My Father hath sent Me even so send I you." 

5. What would you say of the origin of the 
New Testament? The Society just named 
produced histories called Gospels and other 
writings, which were afterwards collected and 
bound together. 

6. Do you accept this Book as containing the 
will of God? I accept both the Society and its 
Book. 

* For the material used in this Lesson the author is 
largely indebted to a tract of the same name, published 
by the Episcopal Tract Society of Philadelphia. 



WHY I AM A CHURCHMAN. 



133 



7. Why? Both came from Christ. He meant 
that both should exist for our aid in serving Him. 

8. What is salvation? Serving Christ. 

9. Is it right to say, We have the Church, 
and can make our own Bible? No. 

10. Is it right to say, We have the Bible, and 
can make our own Church ? No. 

11. What did our Lord pronounce of His 
Church? "The gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it." [St. Matt, xvi: 18]. 

1 2. Do we say that there are no Christians 
outside the Historic Church? Most decidedly 
we do not. 

13. Why is it that ministers from the various 
other Christian bodies coming to our ministry 
are re-ordained, while it is otherwise in the case 
of Roman priests? Because the Church has 
always felt it a duty to transmit unchanged to 
posterity the order it has received from the 
Apostles. 

14. As what is every person to be recognized 
who is baptized with water in the Name of the 
Holy Trinity? As a member of Christ's Holy 
Catholic Church. 

15. At the same time, is it possible for a 
number of such persons to agree upon certain 
rules, and vote themselves a particular branch 
of Christ's Church? No. . 



134 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



16. Why not? Christ's Kingdom is one and 
indivisible. 

17. What example can you give? Suppose 
a number of citizens of New York or Virginia, 
inhabiting a certain area, should vote them- 
selves into a new State, would the General 
Government of the United States recognize 
them as a new State? It would not. 

18. Would the States of New York or Vir- 
ginia recognize them ? No. 

19. Would these persons not be still respon- 
sible to the Laws of their proper States and to 
the General Government for service in war and 
good citizenship in times of peace? They 
would. 

20. What conclusion would you draw from 
this analogy? That no divisions in Christ's 
earthly Kingdom are lawful. 



LESSON L1L— TREASURE IN HEAVEN, AND 
SERVANTS OF GOD. 

Exercise. Find the Offertory Sentences, and the 
places for the morning's service. 

1. On what had our Lord just been speaking 
in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, 
4 * Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven"? 
On Purity and good deeds. 

2. What definition then would you give of 



TREASURES IN HEAVEN, ETC. 



135 



Treasures in Heaven? "They are the good 
works, or rather the character formed by them, 
which follow us into the unseen world, and are 
subject to no process of decay."* 

3. How may be described a large portion of 
Biblical teaching ? Injunctions as to conduct. 

4. Of what is this fact an indication? That 
our present life is a state of preparation for 
another. 

5. In other words? We are here upon pro- 
bation. 

6. What does this mean ? It means that God 
is trying or testing us whether we will do for 
His servants in Heaven. 

7. What may the Church on earth be called? 
God's school. 

8. Whether we are men or women, merchants, 
doctors, farmers, etc., what may we be, and 
what does our Maker expect and ask us to be 
at the same time? The servants of God. 

9. In other words? Good citizens of both 
Kingdoms. 

10. Quote the words of the Lord Jesus. 
"Render unto Caesar the things that are 
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
God's." {St. Matt, xxii: 21]. 

* Bishop Ellicott. 



I3 6 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



11. What words of St. Paul's have been pre- 
served? 44 Whether ye eat or drink, or whatso- 
ever ye do, do all to the glory of God." [I. 
Cor. x: 31]. 

12. What has been well and truly said of the 
term "servants of God?" "A servant with 
this clause makes drudgery divine. " 

13. When the soldiers came to St. John the 
Baptist and asked him what they should do, in 
order to serve the King of Kings, did he tell 
them to give up soldiering? No; he said, "Do 
violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, 
and be content with your wages." [St. Luke 
iii: 14]. 

14. When the publicans or taxgatherers came, 
what did he say to them? "Exact no more 
than that which is appointed you." [St. Luke 
iii: 13]. 

15. When we reach the gates of the Heavenly 
City will it be demanded of us what trade we 
followed on earth ? No; but were we servants 
of God therein ? 

16. What may be said of the Kingdom of 
Christ? It stands bounded by no lawful pro- 
fession, age or color. 

17. Quote a verse from the Book of Ecclesi- 
astes. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, 
do it with all thy might." [Ecc. ix: 10]. 



ETERNAL LIFE. 



137 



18. Cannot the youngest child in this Sun- 
day school be a servant of God ? Certainly. 

19. How does the Apostle of the Gentiles say 
we should regard any earthly task or business? 
He says, "Do it as unto the Lord." [Col. iii: 
Hi 

LESSON L1II.— ETERNAL LIFE. 
Exercise. Find Collect for SS. Philip and James; 
Collect for peace at morning service; the Psalter for 
the day of the month. 

1. How did the Lord Jesus define Eternal 
Life? "This is Life Eternal, that they might 
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
Whom Thou hast sent. " [Sc. John xvii: 3 J. 

2. State the meaning of "know" in this 
text. Believe in, serve and love. 

3. At what period can we thus know God? 
During the present life. 

4. Judging by this text, does the element of 
time enter into our thought of Eternal Life? 
It does not. 

5. What, then, may be said of Eternal Life? 
It is the present possession of the believer. 

6. Give another quotation showing Etem 1 
Life to be a present thing, and beginning in 
this world. " We know that we have passed 
from death unto life, because we love the 
brethren." [I. John iii: 14]. 



138 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



7. What is the correct and literal translation 
of the words of St. Paul, 4 4 The Gospel is hid to 
them that are lost?" It should be, Those who 
are perishing. [II. Cor. iv: 3]. 

8. What is said in Acts of the Apostles of 
persons entering the Church? The Lord added 
unto the Church daily such as were being 
saved, or were in a state of salvation, 
[ii. : 47]. 

9. Quote the words of our Lord in St. John 
v: 24. 4 'He that heareth My word and be- 
lieveth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but 
is passed from death unto life." 

10. What does He say again? "Verily, 
verily I say unto you, He that believeth on Me 
hath everlasting [or eternal] life." [St. John 
vi: 47]. 

11. What great truth do these statements in- 
dicate? That both destruction and salvation 
are progressive states. 

12. Give the R. V. translation (published in 
1881) of 44 Our conversation is in Heaven." 
[Phil, iii: 20.] 4< Our citizenship is in Heaven. " 
See also Eph. ii: 19. 

13. Review each of these statements of Holy 
Scripture, and see what is implied. 

14. Can a person's whole character be changed 



ETERNAL LIFE, 



139 



in a moment from evil to good, or from good 
to evil ? No.* 

15. How does St. Paul address the Christians 
in several of his letters? As saints; also as 
those called to be saints. 

16. When we remember that we have thus 
already entered upon the confines of Eternal 
Life — upon the long career which will be ours 
(if faithful) beyond the grave — what does 
Death then become? Only an episode or in- 
cident in our history. 

17. What is the meaning of salvation, in the 
Bible ? Salvation from sin, its power and con- 
sequences. [St. Matt, i: 21 J. 

18. How does the Catechism speak of this 
Eternal Life? "I heartily thank our Heavenly 
Father that He hath called me to this state of 
salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 
and I pray unto God to give me His grace that 
I may continue in the same until my life's 
end." 

^Compare the Latin adage Nemo repente turpissimus 
fuit. 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



LESSON LIV.— THREE PARABLES OF OUR 
LORD. 

Exercise. What would be the Collect, Epistle and 
Gospel for yesterday (Saturday), if not a Saint's or 
Holy day? 

1. What do we learn from the Parable of the 
Laborers in the Vineyard, in St. Matthew xx? 
That we all enter Heaven equally. 

2. What do you hold to be signified by the 
equal penny? Christ's Atonement, the common 
ground of entrance to all men. 

3. What is the meaning of the Vineyard? 
The Church. 

4. When people make the excuse, as they 
often do, "I will wait till the ninth or eleventh 
hour, and then go into the Vineyard, since the 
reward will be just the same" — what reply 
would you make? That in this Parable it 
seems clear that the same men were never 
called twice — different men were invited each 
time that the householder went into the market 
place (the world). 

5. Those then who entered at late hours had 
never been invited before; they went in the 
moment the call came- is this the case with the 
modern non-professors referred to? No, for 
they have been many times called. 

6. In the case of these ninth and eleventh 



THREE PARABLES OF OUR LORD. 



141 



hour men, was it not probably because they 
obeyed as soon as called — in other words, did 
the best their conditions admitted of — that they 
received the penny equally with the others? It 
would seem so. 

7. Men having entered Heaven equally, what 
teaching will come into play after that? The 
teaching of the Parable of the Talents, and of 
the Pounds. 

8. What do we learn from Christ's Parable of 
the Talents? [St. Matt. xxv]. That there will 
be differences of reward in Heaven, according 
to original endowment on earth. 

9. What does the Parable state? That some 
servants received five talents, some two, and 
some one. 

10. These three classes of people, equal faith- 
fulness being pre-supposed in each, will receive 
in Heaven —what? Five cities, two cities and 
one city respectively. 

11. Mention some of the talents given to us 
by God to-day. Intellect and leadership, 
money, musical or other talent, an attractive 
presence. 

12. Mention some others. Good health, the 
knowledge of God, the gift of Time, a position 
of influence, a sympathetic disposition, and 
others. 



142 



VIRGINIA DARE CATECHISM. 



13. Is it not only a reasonable but also a de- 
sirable thing for all that there should be grades 
in Heaven according to endowment? It is. 

14. With all, will there not be perfect happi- 
ness? Yes; all the cups, great and small, will 
be full. 

15. What is taught about grades in Heaven 
by the Parable of the Pounds, in St. Luke xix? 
That there will be differences of reward Here- 
after, according to our degree of faithfulness 
and earnestness and energy in using our talents 
— few or many — here. 

16. In this Parable of the Pounds what is 
stated? The Master entrusts to each of his 
servants the same amount. 

17. With what result? One servant makes 
of his pound ten pounds; another makes of his 
pound five. 

18. What was the reward in each of these 
cases? The first was to have authority over 
ten cities; the next over five cities. 

19. Thus are we to be rewarded for diligence 
in the use of our talents and opportunities; 
does not every one possess at least one talent? 
All, with the exception perhaps of the insane. 

20. How do we know that one-talented sub- 
jects have quite as much chance of reaching 
Heaven as the more richly endowed? In both 



THREE PARABLKS OF OUR LORD. 



143 



of these Parables (viz., the Talents and the 
Pounds) the fate of the man who did not use 
his gifts teaches us that his moral position be- 
fore his Lord was the same as that of the other 
two. They would have been punished as he 
was, had they acted so; he would have been 
rewarded had he acted as they did. Heaven 
will abound with men like him, only more dili- 
gent. 



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